Star Wars TBR | May the 4th

Happy Star Wars Day!

As a huge Star Wars fan I, of course, had to celebrate May the 4th with a Star Wars-themed post. I have already done the Star Wars Book Tag, so I thought I’d change it up this year. Today I’m going to be sharing the books I want to read from the new canon!

 

Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray

You cannot go wrong with Claudia Gray. Out of the few books I’ve read from the new canon, hers have by far been the best. I’m not normally a prequel fan, the films are memes, let’s be real but I’m willing to read anything Claudia writes in the SW universe.

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Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse

I think all the books I’ve read in the SW canon have been set before the new trilogy, so I definitely need to remedy that! I love these characters and I’m interested to see what this will add to the films.

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Queen’s Shadow by E. K. Johnston

Yes, I did just say I didn’t really like the prequels but I do like Padme. I’m definitely interested in getting more background and characterisation from this book. Plus, that cover! So pretty.

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Princess Leia by Mark Waid

This has been on my TBR forever! I only got into graphic novels last year, so now I feel like it’s finally time to read it. I was put off before as I’d never really enjoyed graphic novels but after reading Saga last year I am now a fan.

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Star Wars the High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray 

Another Claudia Gray…
I actually don’t know much about this one, I like Claudia Gray and I like Jedi’s so that’s good enough for me.

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Favourite Collectables on My Bookshelf| Top 5 Wednesday

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme, GoodReads group here with all the topics + discussion!
This week’s topic is: Favourite Collectibles on Bookshelf

1) Bookmarks

An essential staple for every reader, a good bookmark! Before Bookstagram/Blogging I used to use any old thing as a bookmark (still do sometimes) and now I like bookmarks for their aesthetic too!

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2) Collectible/ Special Edition Books

Who doesn’t love a good collectors/special edition book?! Not only are they exclusive but they’re freaking stunning.  I am obsessed with getting my hands on as many as possible, it is such a bad habit for my bank account. No regrets.

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3) Pins

I don’t have many pins but I totally want to start collecting more!
I have seen a few people on Bookstagram with pin flag/banner things(?) and they look so cute hanging on the shelves! That’s the goal for me, I’d love to display mine on my shelves but I’d also love to rock a denim jacket with a few on from time to time.

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4) Figures + Funko Pops!

I adore collecting figures and Funko Pops! They’re one of my favourite things to get as gifts, which is where the majority of mine came from. Though I don’t tend to display my Funko Pops on my bookshelf with my books, as I keep them in the boxes, I do stack them on top of my small bookshelf.
I do have my Funko Wobblers out of the box and on display though. (Pictured)

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5) Literally anything Star Wars

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Above is how my shelves used to look and I loved it. But due to my book hoarcing habit, I had to start putting other books on those shelves too. *sigh*

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Also, got this cute little planter for Christmas, which is a recent addition to my bookshelf! (Which I adore)

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Comment some things you collect on your bookshelf, I’d love to know!

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Travel Diary: London Day 1&2| London Comic Con Spring 2019

 

Hey Guys!
Bit of a different post from me today. I’ve been wanting to include some non-bookish things on my blog but haven’t really known where to start. I thought this would be a great opportunity to dive into some lifestyle-ish posts!
From March 1st-4th I was in London. My first time ever! Despite living in the UK my whole life I’d never been to London. *Shock, Horror*
Also, got to attend my first ever convention!

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Day One:
Day one wasn’t really exciting. After spending like 4 hours on a bus then two trains to get to our Airbnb, my boyfriend and I weren’t really feeling up for doing anything fun. It was also evening by the time we got there and we didn’t know the area at all so decided to have a night in with a Chinese takeaway, and rest up for Comic Con the next day!

How cute is this takeaway?! So convenient! Where I live, we’re lucky to get our takeaways in a bag. (lol) The food was really good too! Their curly fries were to die for. *drools*

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Day Two: London Comic Con Spring
This was my first con ever, so I was super excited!
It took place in the Olympia, Kensington. We stayed nearby so we walked over at 9am and spent most of the day chilling at Comic Con.

Custom Venom car!

There were so many cool stalls! One of my personal favourites was the metal sculptures, they were seriously amazing. I wish I could afford to buy some because they were beautiful. So much talent!

Got my picture taken with some Star Wars Villains.

(I know I look so tragic, I am internally screaming. Such a fangirl)

It was so much fun! I also got my picture taken on the Iron Throne!!
(Which is a print picture, hence why I haven’t included it. I’m lazy and don’t want to scan it in)

Overall, I had such a fun day at Comic Con, I spotted some actors, which was cool. I ate overpriced pizza and some absolutely amazing fudge! I wish I had taken pictures of the fudge (and noted the company name) because it was beautiful. There were three flavours: Salt caramel, Mars bar and Kinder Bueno. It was the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

I’ll have a post up for my London trip days two and three up soon, stay tuned!

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Let’s chat!

Have you been to London or a Comic Con before?

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Book Wish List (aka books I desperately need) | Top 5 Wednesday

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme, GoodReads group here with all the topics + discussion!
This week’s topic is: Book Wish List

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Six of Crows Collectors Edition by Leigh Bardugo

This is just so beautiful. Look it at. It even has red sprayed pages??!! So beautiful.
So many collectors editions of books I love have just come out.
Maybe, I’ll be lucky enough to get this for Christmas. (Please Santa)

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Graceling 10th Anniversary Edition by Kristin Cashore

Graceling was one of the first YA series I read because of the online book community, it will forever have a special place in my heart. It’s its 10 year anniversary and they release this beautiful edition of it. Which I desperately need.

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Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy

I love Star Wars, especially the Star Wars ladies. The illustrations look so beautiful, from what I’ve seen, I really, really need to pick this up. I love learning anything and everything I can about Star Wars so this is definitely a must for me!

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Fire and Blood by George RR Martin

GRRM has finally released a book relating to ASOIAF. It’s no Winds of Winter… unfortunately. BUT IT WILL DO. I love House Targaryen so I cannot wait to learn more about their history. It’s a pretty thick book and it has illustrations!! Excited!

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Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

This has been on my TBR ever since it was announced, yet I do not own it yet. I have no idea why I haven’t read and bought this (and its sequel) but I just haven’t. I seriously need to, it sounds amazing. Everyone raves about it and I know I’ll love it too.

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Favourite Magic Systems | Top 5 Wednesday

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme, GoodReads group here with all the topics + discussion!
This week’s topic is: Favourite Magic Systems

 

1) Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Allomancy is the magic system feature in Mistborn, Allomancers have the ability to consume metals and gain abilities from different metals. Mistborns can consume all metals, whereas, Mistings can only consume one type. The Magic system is really cool and there are other types in there too, they’re really well explained and easy to follow!

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2) Lightbringer by Brent Weeks
The magic system in this universe is Drafting, it uses the spectrum of light to draw luxin, different colours to different things. Most drafters can draft one or two colours but the Prism can draft all colours. There is a catch – the more you use your power the quicker you die. It’s such an interesting magic system, great series and so underrated!

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3) Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Another Brandon Sanderson magic system (his systems are honestly the best ever). In Warbreaker, the system is known as Breaths, everyone is born with one breath, however, you can buy more but it has to be given willingly – you cannot steal it. The more breath you have the better and more vivid everyone appears, breath can also be temporarily put into inanimate objects, making them come to life.

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4) Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

This one is a little hard to explain but basically, reincarnation is the ‘magic’ of the chimaera but also there’s a running theme that magic comes at a cost.

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5) Star Wars

Obviously, I had the mention the Force. I feel like everyone knows the Force, so no need to explain too much and if you don’t… who even are you!?
I love the spectrum of the Force, the good, the bad and the balance. Plus, if having the Force is needed for owning a Lightsaber, I want in.

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May Wrap Up!

I knew I wouldn’t be reading much this month since college has been super, super busy and I have had a ton of work to do! I’ve been inundated with assignments and essays and it had left me with little to no time to read. Anything I have attempted to read has not held my interest. I have been in a slump. ugh.
I have also been having some general stress in my life trying to sort out what I want to do in life and being indecisive. It’s fair to say, it’s been a stressful month and I’m glad it’s over.

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The first book I read in May was, of course, A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas. One of my most anticipated reads for 2018 and it was good! Wasn’t amazing or mind-blowing, but okay overall. Check out my post Thoughts about ACOFAS for some more of my thoughts!

Rating: 3 Stars

Followed by another highly anticipated release, The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan.
This wasn’t as good as I was expecting but I did still really enjoy it.
Rating: 4 Stars

The next book I finished was from my Non-Fiction TBR, Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher.
If you didn’t know by now (where have you been) I am a huge Star Wars fan and Carrie Fisher is one of my idols.
Rating: 4 Stars

The next book I started was The Force Awakens. However, I didn’t finish and won’t be counting it in my reading goal either. You can read more about my thoughts and why I hated it in my DNF review here.
Rating: 2 Stars

The fourth and final book I finished in May was Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron.
Rating: 4 Stars
This book finally got me out of my reading slump! Hopefully, June will be a better reading month for me!

Review: Here

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Let’s be friends! 

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DNF Review: The Force Awakens Novelisation

Synopsis:
Set years after Return of the Jedi, this stunning action-packed adventure rockets us back into the world of Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Luke Skywalker, while introducing a host of exciting new characters, including Rey, Finn, BB-8 and Kylo Ren.
Darth Vader may have been redeemed and the Emperor vanquished, but peace can be fleeting, and evil does not easily relent. Yet the simple belief in good can still empower ordinary individuals to rise and meet the greatest challenges.
So return to that galaxy far, far away, and prepare yourself for what happens when the Force awakens…

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So, I’ve been in a reading slump and haven’t had much time to read due to college + life stress. I finally decide I am in the mood read, I have been loving sci-fi lately and what’s better than Star Wars? I thought this would be a perfect choice. Nope nope nope.

Plot:
Let me just start off by saying, I absolutely adored the film. It’s one of my top favourites outside of the original trilogy. But man this book…
The plot is well… exactly the same as the film but boring.
Obviously, the plot is going to be the same as the film, that is the point. However, I was hoping for some ‘unseen’ extras. The changes in the book annoyed me more than anything, I wish it had just stuck to the original dialogue. As some who has watched The Force Awakens many, many times, I do actually remember a lot of the things said. The added dialogue changed the whole tone of the story for me. All of it was unnecessary and some of it made the characters seem… different. And not in a good way.
The writing is just appalling. I couldn’t get into at all. It was bloody AWFUL.
It takes so long to read too? It’s only 260 ish pages but my god it feels endless.

30% way through feelings: Meh. So boring. I don’t understand. The story isn’t boring but the book does it no justice. Seriously considering DNFing it.

Just under 50%:  I don’t think I can finish it, it’s just not fun. DNF.

Compared to some of the amazing books in the new Star Wars canon, this is just utter crap. I’m so disappointed this fell so flat for me.
I definitely recommend just sticking to the film for this one. Claudia Gray’s Star Wars novels are the best, I highly, highly recommend (beg) you read those!

Rating: 2 very disappointed Stars

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Let’s be friends! 

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May the 4th be with you: Star Wars Book Tag!

 

Happy Star Wars Day!
In honour of May the 4th, I thought I would do a Star Wars Book Tag! I decided to make up my own questions/prompts, as the other Star Wars book tags I found I wasn’t keen on the questions/prompts.

LEIA ORGANA
“Someone has to save our skins!” – Favourite strong female character
I mean, if this was any other tag I would pick Leia but since she is the prompt I’ll pick someone else… I’ll go with Sarene from Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, having recently reread this book, it made me remember what a strong female lead Sarene is!

 

 

LUKE SKYWALKER
“Never. I’ll never turn to the Dark Side. You have failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” – A character who is wholly good
It’s hard to find a character who is well and truly good, but I think Ned Stark from A Game of Thrones comes pretty damn close.

 

 HAN SOLO
“You know, sometimes I amaze even myself.” – A cocky but lovable character
Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas.
He is so cocky but who can blame him? He’s amazing.

 

DARTH VADER
“There’s still good in him” – Name a villain who was redeemed
Mrs Coulter from the His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman. She was kind of redeemed/ did something good in the end. She was a complete b*tch in the beginning.

 

CHEWBACCA
“Laugh it up, fuzzball” Han & Chewie –  Best friendship
Blue + The Raven Boys from Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle.

 

R2-D2
“Bleep bleep boop” – Lovable sidekick
Reichis from the Spellingslinger series by Sebastien De Castell. Reichis is a squirrel cat who I never would’ve thought I’d like but I adore this character, he is hilarious!

 

C-3PO
“I am C3P0, protocol droid, human-cyborg relations. I am fluent in over 6 million forms of communication.” – A Multilingual Character
Karou from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor. She speaks many languages, I’m not sure how many in total but it’s a fair few!

 

May the 4th be with you!

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Let’s be friends!
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Favourite Books Of 2017!

I read some absolutely amazing books in 2017.
I had a really great reading year, I managed 91 books and my average rating was 4 stars. Narrowing down my favourites down was very hard!

Here are some of my top favourites, in no particular order:

From left to right:

• The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
• Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
• The Black Prism by Brent Weeks
• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
• Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
• Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
• Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray
• Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
• Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas
• A Game of Thrones (Illustrated edition) by George RR Martin
• Invasion of The Tearling by Erika Johansen
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Hoping I read so many more great books in 2018!
– Leisha

 

December Wrap-Up

In the month of December, I managed to read 6 books, including 2 audiobooks. I didn’t read as much as I hoped but oh well, 6 books isn’t too bad!

Rating: 4/5 Stars
The first book I finished in December was an audiobook, it was Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. I have mixed feelings about this book, I could probably write a whole essay about my feelings on this book. This would’ve been a 5 star read if it had ended differently. I really, really loved the majority of this book, I don’t HATE the ending, it was just not what I wanted. Pretty much everyone agrees that the ending was disappointing. For me, it’s not so much the plot-twist that I hated, I just feel so bad for Kelsea. She deserved better.

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Rating: 4/5 Stars
The next book I finished was an E-ARC of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black.
This was my first Holly Black book and I really enjoyed it! I will be looking into reading more books by her, I really liked her writing style.
Full review here.

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Rating: 4/5 Stars
The other audiobook is read is The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell.
I really, really enjoyed this book! If you want to hear all my thoughts see my review here.

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Rating: 3.5/5
The next book I finished was La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, I ended up being slightly disappointed by it. I loved being back in this world and the story was okay, just okay. It did, however, make me want more from this world and I cannot wait for the sequel!

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Rating: 3/5
The second-to-last book I read was Rebel Rising by Beth Revis. This book was an okay read, it did answer some questions about Jyn and the events that take place before we see her in Rogue One. It was fairly average as far as Star Wars novels go, the best ones are by Claudia Gray (in my opinion).
I didn’t hate this book by any means, I didn’t love it either.

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Rating: 2/5
And finally, my last read of 2017. What a disappointing read it was: 1984 by George Orwell.
Let me just start off by saying: this was a required read for college, if it hadn’t had been I probably would’ve DNF’d it. I found this book to be painfully boring, it had absolutely nothing to keep me interested. This book is highly praised and loved by many people and I honestly have no idea why. I get the concept is relevant and all that but my lord, it was dire.
I have no idea how I am going to manage writing essays on this for college. Sigh.

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So that’s all the books I read in December! I’ll still be doing monthly wrap-ups throughout 2018 but I have decided I’m not going to do TBR’s anymore. I am a huge mood reader and I can almost never stick to a set TBR. I don’t know if anyone else is like me but picking books to read in advance tends to put me off, as I feel forced into reading them to stick to my TBR. So no more TBR posts! I’m just going to read whatever I feel like reading at the time.

Happy New Year!
I hope your new year is filled with books and may you have a great reading year!
– Leisha