T5W – Banned Books I’ve Read

It’s that time of the week again when I bring you the Top 5 Wednesdays, created by gingerreadslainey. If you want to know how T5W works you can go to the Goodreads group by clicking here. This weeks theme is Top 5 Banned Books I’ve Read. If you don’t know Banned Books Week this year goes from September 27 to October 3 and that’s the reason that this is this week’s theme. While banning books nationally it’s not a thing anymore there are still some schools and libraries that decide to ban books for the weirdest reasons. When I was doing some research for this topic I was surprised because there were some books that I wasn’t expecting in this list. So let’s see some of the banned books that I’ve read.

5. The Fault in Our Stars – John Green

I wasn’t expecting to see this book in a banned books list. It looks like that this book was pulled off from a Middle Grade School library because some parents thought that their kids shouldn’t read a book about teens with cancer who use crude language and that are in love. Even funnier is that all of John Green books have been banned from some school libraries.

4. The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

This was another book that surprised me. This book was also banned from some Middle Grade Schools because of its sexual content and homosexual themes. It was also banned because Anne Frank talked about the changes in her body which is pretty normal for a teen who’s growing up. I wasn’t expecting this because when I read this book the only thing I could think was how unfair the whole war was and the million of people who died.

3. Eleanor & Park – Rainbow Rowell

This book was banned from a library because it uses profanity and some sexuality. This even brought some controversy because Rainbow Rowell was set to visit the town library but her appearance was cancelled because of the ban.

2. Harry Potter – J. K. Rowling

I think that this one is not a surprise to anyone. Harry Potter has been banned from a lot of schools and libraries because it promotes witchcraft. Also, some people think that Harry and company are not good examples because they lie, break rules, and disobeys authority figures and kids should not be reading these kind of books. There a few more reasons why people keep banning Harry Potter but I think that it would take a whole post to talk (and rant) about it.

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

I can’t say that I’m surprised by seeing this book in this list because I’m not. This is one of the most challenged books of all time and I’ve seen some books being banned by way less than The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Some of the reasons why this book was banned were the sexually explicit content, the language, the drugs and the fact that it has a rape scene. That’s right. You know what’s even worse? A school banned this book in recently because it promotes a homosexual agenda.

These are some the banned books that I’ve read. If I could tell everything that I think about banned books I would be here ranting about it for a long time. What about you? Which banned books have you read? And what do you think about banned books? Tell me in the comments.

Anticipating Book Releases – October 2015

Hi guys! It’s the end of another month which means that it’s time to see which books are going to be released in October. Can you believe that we it’s already fall (at least in here) and that were almost in the end of 2015? This year is going on so fast. So, these are some of the books that are going to be released October. If you want more information about the book click on its cover. It will take to the Goodreads page.

My Life in Books! Book Tag

Hi guys! Today I wasn’t going to do a tag because my last was a tag but once again I had no time to write a post so to have a post up I decided to do another tag (I promise you that I will not post a tag for the next week 😛 ). Today I’m going to answer to the My Life in Books! book tag. I wasn’t tagged by anyone but I saw it over a Cristina’s blog My Tiny Obsessions and it looked so funny that I had to do it. After that I found out that I’d been tagged by the amazing Analle @ Book Snacks so thanks you Analle for tagging me 🙂 .

1. Find a Book for Each of your Initials.

C – City of Heavenly Fire

I – Ignite Me

P – The Perks of Being a Wallflower

J – Just One Day

2. Count your Age Along Your Bookshelf – Which Book Is It?

I have two bookshelves in different houses but I have to use the bookshelf next to me right now that is basically my TBR and books that I still have to take home. In this bookshelf the book number 25 (my age) is If I Stay by Gayle Forman.

3. Pick a Book Set in your City/State/Country.

I’m stealing the answer that Cristina used and choose Os Maias by Eça Queirós. It’s an amazing book set in Portugal. Also, I live close to Sintra and part of the book is in Sintra (which by the way it’s a beautiful village). And have I told you that this book is the reason why I started reading?

4. Pick a Book that Represents a Destination you Would Love to Travel to.

I was going to say Anna and the French Kiss but then I remembered that I also want to travel to New York so I will pick Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins.

5. Pick a Book that’s your Favorite Color.

Once again I’m stealing Cristina’s answer. I just love the colors (especially the mint green) used on Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

6. Which Book do you Have the Fondest Memories of?

I think I’ve already talked about this book but it’s Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree by Santa Montefiore. I absolutely love that book and is just an amazing read.

7. Which Book did you Have the Most Difficulty Reading?

Probably Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon. I’ve been trying to finish it since May but I still have 275 pages to go.

8. Which Book in Your TBR Pile will Give you the Biggest Sense of Accomplishment When you Finish it?

Once again, Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon or The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. I will be extremely happy when I finish one of these books.

So this is it. I’m not tagging anyone in particular but if you want to do this tag just tell me and you’re tagged 🙂 .

Would You Rather 2.0 – Book Tag

Hi guys! I’ve been very short of time today and like always someone (me) decided to not write a post the day before. To be honest I didn’t know that the day would be so chaotic. However I found a book tag that was very fast and easy to answer and I was able to write it 🙂 ! With this I’m bringing you the Would You Rather 2.0 Book Tag. I already answered to the Would You Rather book tag a few months ago (see it here) so I had to answer this one. So let’s start it 🙂 !

1. Would you rather only do review posts or tag posts?

This is a hard one because I love to do both but I think I would like to do tags. Don’t get me wrong. Is just because tags are so much fun to do.

2. Would you rather always see the film first or never see the film version of books?

I the kind of person that loves to read the book before watching the movie (and that’s the reason why I haven’t seen The Maze Runner yet) but I would hate to not be able to watch the adaptations. So I would rather see the film first and then read the book.

3. Would you rather have a list of every book you’ve ever read (like Goodreads from birth) or still have the physical copy of your first favorite book?

The thing in this one is that I still have the physical copy of my first favorite book (and it is a book that has moe than 30 years old because it was my mom book then my aunt and now mine). So I would have a list of every book I’ve read because I’m pretty sure I forgot a lot of them.

4. Would you rather have an active in-person book club of non-book bloggers or have lunch with your best book blogger buddies once a year?

Hmmm… I never been in a book club so it’s something that I don’t care if I’m not in one so when can we have lunch? 😛

5. Would you rather have the time to read everything you want to read or the money to buy everything you want to read?

I would want to have the money to buy everything I want to read if it means that I have the time to read 😀 .

6. Would you rather dream cast the film or have editing power over the script for the film version of your favorite book?

This one is so easy. I’m terrible with dream casting the films so I would want to have the power over the script of my favorite book.

7. Would you rather have your favorite fictional superpower or your favorite fictional technology?

Superpowers for the win. But something that would not kill everyone only by touch please.

8. Would you rather read an amazing story with a ‘meh’ ending or a ‘meh’ story with a spectacular ending?

Another one that is pretty difficult to answer. It would be great to have an amazing story but the “meh” ending would ruin everything. Can I have a “meh” story with a spectacular ending where the ending starts halfway through the book?

9. Would you rather not be able to read in a moving vehicle or not be able to read lying down?

This one changes a lot. Right now I’m unemployed so I normally read at home and lying down. However before that my reading was all done on my way to college because I would take a half an hour train every day and another half an hour to come back home. So my answer right now is not being able to read in a moving vehicle but that could change anytime.

10. Would you rather reread your favorite book or series with fresh eyes, like the first time, or be able to un-read your biggest disappointment?

Is this a question? I would love to re-read my favorite books with fresh eyes. Imagine the feeling of discovering your favorite book world all over again. I have no doubts about this one.

So this was the Would You Rather 2.0 Book tag. I’m not tagging anyone but feel free to do it 🙂 .

Book Traveling Thursdays #7 – Fall is finally here!!

Today is thursday which means that is Book Traveling Thursdays, a weekly meme created by me and Danielle @ Danielle’s Book Blog. This weekly meme consists in picking a book related to the weekly theme that is announced in the group Goodreads page (if you want to join click here) at the beginning of each month. After that you can write a blog post where you explain why you choose that book and choose different covers from different countries. To make it a little bit easy you are going to choose different editions of the original cover, the cover from your country, your favorite cover, and your least favorite cover. For this week we had to choose a book that brings nostalgic ‘fall feelings’. There is a book that brings me a lot of nostalgic feelings (Meet me Under the Ombu Tree) but I used it for the monster of a book week (check it out here) so I had to choose another one. So for this theme I decided to choose a book that I really loved and for some reason every time I think of a book I feel nostalgic. Once again I bring you a book that I normally don’t hear people talking about that is called The Sugar Queen and was written by Sarah Addison Allen.

Original Cover:

I don’t like this cover at all and let me tell you that I probably wouldn’t read this book based only on its cover and that would be a bummer because I really loved this book. I can’t tell you exactly why I don’t like but I just feel that it’s not the right cover even if the picture is beautiful.

Cover from my Country (Portugal):

Let me just tell how much I love this cover and every Sarah Addison Allen portuguese editions. All the books have a similar design to this one (with the exception of the last book 😦 ) and I just love it. I really feel that this cover is a little bit magical and that’s totally related to the author books and the covers are gorgeous. Honestly the covers is the reason why I started reading Sarah Addison Allen’s books. I saw a book with a gorgeous cover, bought it and don’t regret it because they are great books.

Favorite Covers:

As I said before I love the portuguese editions but I also love the US paperback. Once again, I just think that it the cover brings some kind of magical aspect and it’s a different cover. I really like both of these covers.

Least Favorite Covers:

The first of my least favorite covers (France) reminds me of a cooking book and if I saw it I would think that it was one. I also don’t like the russian cover. I think that the picture is not the right picture for this book and once again I wouldn’t buy a book with this cover.

So this is it, this week Book Traveling Thursdays. What did you think of these covers? Tell me in the comments 🙂 .

T5W – Favorite Title Fonts on Covers

It’s that time of the week again when I bring you the Top 5 Wednesdays, created by gingerreadslainey. If you want to know how T5W works you can go to the Goodreads group by clicking here. This weeks theme is Top 5 Favorite Title Fonts on Covers. I really like to appreciate the aesthetics of book covers but to be honest fonts is the last thing that I tend to notice. However this list made appreciate the fonts and understand how important they are in the final cover So let’s start this list.

The Lunar Chronicles – Marissa Meyer

I think that this font is really beautiful and it adds something to the cover itself. Not only that but it also looks a little bit futuristic for some reason 🙂 .

The Peach Keeper (Portuguese Edition)– Sarah Addison Allen

This is one of that books that I don’t hear anyone talking about and it makes me a little bit sad because Sarah Addison Allen has beautiful books. To be honest I love all of the portuguese edition covers of Sarah Addison Allen’s books and I think that the font is one of the things that caught my attention when I first saw this book (that and the beautiful cover also). The thing is that I really like the handwritten fonts and this one is just beautiful. However I’m mad now because the last book that was released here didn’t have this type of cover (an font) and now it doesn’t match with all the other beautiful books that I have that were written by the author.

Confess – Colleen Hoover

I really like the font that is used in this cover (and I loved the book). I like how the title is the main point of the cover and I love the colors used in the font. Is really gorgeous.

My Heart and Other Black Holes – Jasmine Warga

One thing I love in titles is when people mix different fonts in the title. I do it a lot of the times in my post headers. Because of that I really like the fonts used in this cover. One thing important is that the different fonts need to look good when they are together and it really worked in this cover.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

What a shock!! The Perks of Being a Wallflower in one of my lists (like it doesn’t happen almost every week 😛 ). I really love how the title looks handwritten and the words in the back. It really makes a beautiful cover.

Honorable Mentions:

These are some of my favorite book title fonts. What about you? Which books did you included in your top? Tell me in the comments.

Blog Awards – Sunshine Blogger Awards

Hi guys! Today I’m bringing you another blog award. I was nominated by the lovely Panda @ Panda’s Books for the Sunshine Blogger Award so thank you Panda for the nomination 😀 .

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Rules:

• Answer the 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
• Nominate some wonderful bloggers and write 11 questions for them to answer

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Questions:

1. Do you play an instrument? If so what? If not, any you would like to play?

Right now I don’t play any instruments but I played clarinet for about 6 years when I was younger. I was even a part of my town youth orchestra.

2. What’s your favorite TV show?

Probably Doctor Who or Teen Wolf. I also love Friends and How I Met Your Mother (I don’t want to talk about that ending).

3. What’s your favorite genre of music?

I listen mostly to pop music and a lot of 80s songs too.

4. What’s your favorite takeaway meal? e.g. chinese, pizza, fish and chips etc

Pizza for the win. I just love pizza and I’ll eat it every time I can 😀

5. Do you like baking?

I normally don’t like anything about cooking or baking but most recently I started doing a few things and I’m enjoying baking a little bit more every time I decide to bake.

6. What’s your guilty pleasure?

This is a little bit weird but gossip websites. I have this thing were I love to read gossip websites and other weird websites (like Buzzfeed)

7. Do you still watch children’s TV shows?

Sometimes I watch Sailor Moon, Doraemon and Heidi when it’s on TV. But not every day.

8. Who’s your favorite Doctor?

I can’t choose only one but I love the tenth (David Tennant) and the eleventh (Matt Smith) doctors.

9. What’s your favorite Nintendo game?

I don’t play a lot of games but probably Super Mario Bros. It’s the only one that I can remember.

10. Who’s your favorite YouTuber (not BookTube!)?

I don’t know if I can choose only one favorite but I love to watch Minecraft videos (I know, weird 😀 ), especially Stacyplays. I also love the Fletcher family (Tom, Giovanna and Carrie).

11. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

I have no idea because I never thought about that. There was a time that I really liked the name Lara so I would probably answer that.

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My Nominations:

Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks

Bhramori @ thecrazyperfectionist

Bianca @ The Ultimate Fangirl

Cristina @ My Tiny Obsessions

Kacie at Kacie’s Bookshelf

Maria @ Big City Bookworm

Michelle @ The Writing Hufflepuff

Nicole @ Nymphadora Winterfell

Valerie @ Little Dutch Bookshop

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My Questions:

1. Is blogging what you thought it would be? Why or why not?

2. Where is the coolest place you have traveled to?

3. Do you have pets? And if so, what kind and why do you love them so much?

4. Is there any hyped book that you refuse to read? Why?

5. What book/movie/TV show is over-hyped?

6. What’s the book that got you into reading?

7. What is something you’ve always wanted to do, but have never done for no good reason?

8. What is your biggest pet peeve? 

9. What’s your favorite TV show?

10. What’s your guilty pleasure?

11. Share a blog post you wrote that meant a lot to you and tell us why you picked that one.

Once again if I nominated you and you did this already or don’t want to do this just ignore it.

So this is it, the Sunshine Blogger Award. I hope you enjoyed it 🙂 .

I Wish (I Wish #1) by Elizabeth Langston – Review

Publication Date:

November 19th, 2014

Publisher:

FictionEtc Press

Goodreads Synopsis: 

What Lacey needs is a miracle. What she gets is a genie with rules.

Lacey Linden is hiding the truth of her life—a depressed mom, a crumbling house, and bills too big to pay. While her high school classmates see a girl with a ready smile and good grades, Lacey spends her evenings seeking ways to save her family. On a get-cash-quick trip to the flea market, Lacey stumbles over a music box that seemingly begs her to take it home. She does, only to find it is inhabited by a gorgeous “genie.” He offers her a month of wishes, one per day, but there’s a catch. Each wish must be humanly possible.

Grant belongs to a league of supernatural beings, dedicated to serving humans in need. After two years of fulfilling the boring wishes of conventional teens, he is one assignment away from promotion to a challenging new role with more daring cases. Yet his month with Lacey is everything that he expects and nothing like he imagines. Lacey and Grant soon discover that the most difficult task of all might be saying goodbye.

Review:

*I was provided an eARC by FictionEtc Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

When I read the blurb for this book I decided that I needed to read it mostly because I never read a genie book. However this is not a simple genie book, it’s like a contemporary book, that I love, with a little bit of fantasy. I really liked this book and couldn’t stop reading which means that someone (me 😛 ) stayed up reading until 3 am and ended up reading this book in one-sitting.
The main character, Lacey, has a lot of problems. Her family doesn’t have money for food and she has to be the grown-up because of her mother’s depression. In one trip to the flea market Lacey gets a music box that happens to have a genie, Grant (can we talk about the great name? 😛 ), inside. Of course that with this development a lot happens and Grant starts helping Lacey. One thing I liked is that this is not like normal genie stories. Lacey has the right to 30 humanly possible wishes (one a day) instead of the normal 3 wishes. This was great because it allowed to see the characters development in that time frame. Another thing I really liked was that the romance in this book wasn’t insta-love. You can see their growing feelings through the month. I also enjoyed how in the end of each chapter we could read Grant’s letters to his boss with daily developments because you can really see his growth through the letters. I really liked all the characters, especially Lacey little brother Henry, and I loved to see that a lot of people really cared about her even if the thought that no one wanted to care about her. My main problem with this book was the ending. I needed more and I needed other things to happen but I understand why the author decided to write that ending.
Overall, this was a cute fast pacing book and if you want to read a cute contemporary book with a little bit of magic you should give this one a try. I know that I will be reading the next book in the series because I need to know more and read more about these characters.

Rating:

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If you haven’t read it would you read it?

Favorite Book to Movie Adaptations

Hi guys! Today I decided to talk to you about my favorite book to movie adaptations. I don’t know if you’re like but most of the times I’m really pessimist about the movies even before the release because I had a lot of disappointments already (*cough* City of Bones *cough*). Because of that I decided to talk about some book to movie adaptations that I actually really like and also a few movies that I haven’t read the book yet but want to. (Note: The books are in a non-specific order)

Favorite Book to Movie Adaptations

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

I loved this book and the movie was so well done. The cast was amazing and everything was great in the movie. Maybe Hollywood should start using the authors as screenwriters because Stephen Chbosky did a great job on turning his book in an amazing movie. And not only he was the screenwriter but he was also the director. How amazing is that?

2. A Walk to Remember – Nicholas Sparks

I think I already told you how much I love Nicholas Sparks books. I’ve read all of them but normally I don’t watch the movie adaptations. I think I’ve only watched 3/4 movie adaptations of his books. This one is still my favorite and makes me cry every time (even when I know everything already).

3. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

I think that The Hunger Games movies are so well done. I loved especially the first one. There where a few things I would have changed (like you know, Peeta’s leg) but I still loved the movie.

4. Harry Potter – J.K. Rowling

I have to be honest here. In this one I saw the movies before I read the books (and I still have two to read) but these movies are epic and changed a whole generation. I think I don’t need to explain a lot right?

5. One Day – David Nichols

This movie is one of the cases where I liked the movie more than the book. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the book but for some reason I really loved this movie and everyone should watch it because I don’t know anyone that actually saw this movie and it’s sad.

6. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

Another one that I think that doesn’t need explanation. This book is amazing and everyone involved in the movie was able to make a really good (and devastating) movie. If you haven’t seen it yet you really need.

7. The Fault in our Stars – John Green

Let’s talk about another movie that makes me cry every time?? The movie was beautiful. Okay I didn’t like Ansel as Gus but I’m able to forget that and appreciate the movie every time I watch it.

8. The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

The first time I read The Hobbit I was thinking: “How are they doing 3 movies from this tiny book?”. Well, insert a lot of amazing scenes that weren’t in the book and that make the movie even better. But let’s be real, some of the scenes were still boring but I love this universe and it has beautiful views.

9. The Spectacular Now – Tim Sharp

Another book/movie that I normally don’t hear people talk about. I love coming-of-age stories and I liked the book but seeing it as a movie was even better. This is another one that I think that everyone should read/watch.

10. The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis

I know… the movies were not that good but I loved them (well, I didn’t like the last one) and I don’t care about what other people say about the movies. Every time this is on TV I will watch it and love it.

Honorable Mention: The DUFF – Kody Keplinger

I’ve watched the movie last week and loved it. I loved the book and I was afraid to watch the movie because I knew how much they changed the plot but it actually worked. It was actually a good movie.

Books that I want to Read

1. The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick

2. Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson 

3. The Princess Diaries – Meg Cabot

4. The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold 

5. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien

These are some of my favorite book to movie adaptations and some books I want to read. I probably forgot a few movies but what can I do 😛 … Tell me in the comments what are some of your favorite book to movie adaptations and which books do you want to read..

When the Stars Align by Jeanette Grey – ARC Review

Publication Date:

September 1st 2015

Publisher:

Forever Yours

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Their passion burned hotter than the stars . . .

For Josephine “Jo” Kramer, nothing has ever been easy. When she earns a summer internship in Puerto Rico, working at one of the world’s preeminent scientific facilities, she’ll let nothing distract her. Not her own insecurities, not the arrogant scientists, and definitely not her tall, chiseled research partner, Adam.

For Adam McCay, physics is simple-it’s women who are complicated. Especially brilliant, beautiful ones like Jo. From the moment they meet, he can feel the heat smoldering deep beneath her icy exterior. And Adam knows just what it will take to make Jo melt . . .

Under the endless stars of a tropical sky, Jo and Adam indulge their every desire. But as their internship comes to an end, their perfect island paradise is threatened. Was their time together a summer fling? Or is their passion hot enough to last the long winter nights?

Review:

*I was provided an eARC by Forever Romance via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I started this book really not knowing what to expect but I actually enjoyed it. This book takes place in Puerto Rico where the main characters are spending a summer there, doing an internship in a famous astronomical science facility. With me being a science girl I knew that I wanted to read this book (I actually thought of studying Astronomy before choosing Marine Biology and Biotechnology so it’s something that interests me a lot 😀 ).
I actually started this book by not liking the main character Jo. The way she acted would make me really mad but through out the book we find out why she is like this. Now let’s talk about Adam. I really liked him from the beginning and I loved the way that he helped Jo during the book. Every time that she needed him he was there even if said that she didn’t want him there (when she wanted). Their interactions after the middle of the book sometimes were extremely cute and you could see how much Adam cared about Jo. Another thing I loved about this book was how they both changes for better because they were with each other, especially Jo. This was a super cute read but let me tell you that it has some mature content so it’s not something that everyone would like to read. My only problem with this book was that the beginning was a little bit slow but after a few chapters it was in the right pace and I was able to fly through the book. One thing that I absolutely loves was the epilogue. I’m sucker for epilogues and I love them so it was great to see where the characters were one year later.
Overall, this book was even better than I was expecting and it really surprised. While I know that this book is not for everyone I think that everyone that loves new adult contemporary should try this out. It will probably surprise you 🙂 !

Rating:

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If you haven’t read it would you read it?