Announcemet · Bookish Things

Welcome!

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IMG_1445Hello everyone, and welcome to my book blog, where I’ll discuss anything and everything bookish. Whether it will be reviews or books that I am simply quite excited about.

 

I have a few books currently down the pipeline, some that I am getting ready to read, some that I’ve pre-0rdered and really just can’t wait to have in my hands.

I will also plan on having themed reads based on my future travels which can be found on A Broad Canuck as I find the literary spots of the world.

If you have any recommendations let me know, or there’s something you would like to see let me know about that too. I’m open to any and all suggestions, so bear with me as I figure out what exactly it is that I’m trying to do here. Because let’s be honest, everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Thanks!

Book List 2014 · Reviews

Quick Reviews

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Voyager by Diana Gabaldon ★★★★

This book was a little hard for me to get into at first, given the different setting in the beginning but I soon found myself once again falling down the veritable rabbit hole, nervous for the characters and enjoying every minute of it.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon ★★★★

This book, the fourth in the series was definitely not hard for me to get into, as I slid right in and began reading (and sometimes researching) about the different locales, characters growth which is aplenty and enjoying the pleasure of being safely in this time while traveling through a time very different from our own. I was very sad to realize I was unable to yet get the next book in the series.

Must Love Otters by by Eliza Gordon ★★★
This book was very cute, and a fun, funny read. There were more than a few times I found myself laughing out loud at Hollie’s antics, and found myself falling a little bit for Ryan.

 

Book List 2014 · Reviews

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

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Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2)Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first book had captured my attention so quickly, that I was a little surprised and dismayed when this one didn’t as well. It was a slow burn for me, as the story and characters slowly wrapped themselves around me and pulled me in.

Jamie is as conflicting as always for me, often doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, or the right thing for the wrong reasons. And his actions sometimes, even in the historical context have been known to make me wince.

Claire is daring, and courageous and similarly so heartbreakingly wonderful and yet flawed.

In this world Diana Gabaldon has created something that can suck you in, whether it’s gradual or not. She has created characters that are never perfect, never without flaws and will not hesitate to make you care for at least one of them.

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Book List 2014

The She Hulk Diaries

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The She-Hulk DiariesThe She-Hulk Diaries by Marta Acosta

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was a really quick read once you can manage to get into it, but I found so much of it to be a bit problematic. I wanted to see it as a fun romp but really I was disappointed.

I found the weight shaming in parts of the book to be distracting from the actual plot, and there were many different grammatical errors and spelling mistake throughout that were also quite the distraction.

I just didn’t like this as much as I thought I might, and was left with a feeling of, “That’s it?”

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Book List 2014 · Reviews

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

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Outlander (Outlander, #1)Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn’t expect to like this book, nor did I expect to stay up until 4 am this morning in a desperate bid to finish it, or spend my morning when I did awake doing much the same.

Claire is a character who I can get behind, she is stubborn, passionate, intelligent and yet at times so irrational that it’s enough to make me (and Jamie) crazy. But I love her. She is awesome.

Jamie is someone I liked almost immediately, able to picture him so clearly in my mind’s eye and enjoying every moment of it.

There were some scenes in this book that I did have a problem with, but I won’t mention those here as I know that is a certain amount of this novel which only happens because of the time it is in.

It’s not a perfect novel. The sex scenes are often outrageous, and the attitudes of the men concerning but it is fun.

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Book List 2014 · Reviews

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

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The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This remains one of my favourite books, upon yet another re-read. The world build is so fantastic, and so welcoming and yet foreboding all at the same time.

The characters are easy to love. Sam with his ernest need to protect Frodo, Merry and Pippin with their steadfast loyalty and their sense of adventure which does begin to crumble. Gandalf with his intelligence and wisdom. Aragorn. Legolas.

And the language, and messages within this book always stay with me. I think years from now I’ll still recall lines and passages and rejoice in knowing them.

“The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present,” in particular is a line I love.

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Book List 2014 · Reviews

A Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin

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A Game of ThronesA Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am not really a reader of fantasy books, though I found this one easier to read than most. It’s not due to a lack of descriptive language, but rather the quick pacing of the novel. Every chapter is a short story, from a different characters point of view, which I enjoyed immensely because it makes it so well rounded.

There are characters who I love, such as Arya, and Ned as well as others, but even those I detest such as Cersei are fleshed out. I found the characters emotions were well written into the plot, so that I could identify as a reader in some small sliver of a way.

My only qualm with this book would be the sex scenes which are horridly written, often cheesy and often problematically written.

I also found it interesting, upon this re-read to see how much of this book actually did end up in the series.

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Book List 2014 · Reviews

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

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Code Name VerityCode Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I feel like I missed something in this book. Some undefinable element which made people love it so much. I didn’t.

There were parts where I wished for it to end, and it wasn’t until page 167 exactly that it captured my interest. The best thing I can say for this book is that when it captured my interest it managed to keep it. The truth evident in the fiction enriched the story, and the bond between the two main characters had me aching as I tried to imagine going through something like that.

The ending seemed poignant, but over all I felt like there was something lacking. Maybe it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

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Book List 2014

Ripper by Isabel Allende (Spoilers maybe)

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RipperRipper by Isabel Allende

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book took me quite some time to read, in part because I couldn’t sink into it the way I normally do with mystery novels. The crimes were grisly, as I’ve come to expect from books like this but I couldn’t help but feel that something here was lost in translation. Some scenes just seemed extraneous and like they were there to fill the pages over containing any pertinent information.

I found the plot a little bit predictable, although a child as a main character in a novel such as this was an interesting idea and I found myself enjoying Amanda and some of the other characters. I figured out the two possibilities of who the killer could be, and lo and behold they were both one person so I felt a little bit accomplished.

I feel like there was no reason to kill Ryan however, and do wonder why the author decided to make that decision. For me the most interesting parts of the novel were the last 100 pages, beyond that it is something I won’t pick up again but I just don’t think the style and pacing was my cup of tea.

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Book List 2014 · Reviews

The Thousand Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars) by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

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The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars, #1)The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well Marshmallows, we got another continuation of the Veronica Mars universe. And it was great.

I absolutely loved this book, and devoured it, searching for the easter eggs for those who had been huge fans of the show. But more than that I also tried to read this book as though I’d never heard of Veronica.

The dialogue, as it always is with Veronica, was snappy and witty, dare I say it even snarky. Mac is back, and she is as reliable and loveable as ever. Dick is the unwitting hero. Wallace is steadfast, and is responsible for one of my favourite moments in the book.

There were things, no spoilers here, that I was actually completely shocked at and that had me flipping and reading as fast as I possibly could.

At its heart though, I’m not sure anyone whose not read the show will get how shocking certain moments are, or appreciate the resurgence of certain characters

But me? I can’t wait for the next one.

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