Getting Organized for 2016

2015 is nearly over. Where has this year gone? A lot of things have happened this year but still, when I look back, it feels like we were just in January and all of a sudden, Christmas is right around the corner!

Outside of work, one of my big loves is books, obviously. But another hobby of mine is planning and some of my guilty pleasures including decorating/organizing my planner and watching YouTube planning videos. There are an amazing array of diaries, planners and printables out there to select from but I have yet to find the perfect system that suits me in terms of work, reading, blogging and social life. So as 2015 draws to a close, I couldn't help but think I should come up with my own planner printables to suit my needs.

Merry Christmas

It's that time of the year again!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, a festive season with your family and loved ones and all the best wishes for the oncoming New Year!

Read Online: First Impressions by Claudia Gray

I have recently posted a book review of Ten Thousand Skies Above You, the second book in the Firebird trilogy by Claudia Gray. You can read my thoughts on it here if you would like. If you haven't yet picked up the Firebird trilogy, I would highly recommend it to you. 

The Firebird trilogy is centred around the concept of multiverse (aka parallel universes) - an infinite number of universes set apart from each other by sometimes one small difference and at other times, major changes. As Marguerite's parents and their two college research students, Theo and Paul, are designing a device that will allow them to travel and experience the different universes, they encounter people that are determined they fail in their endeavour and will do anything they can to stop them. 

Whilst I was browsing GoodReads trying to discover when the third and final book in this series would be released, I came across this short story set in the short time period between the first and second book of this trilogy. You can find it on scribd here. If you have read this series and enjoy it as much as I have, I would highly recommend you go and check this short story out!

Off Topic Sunday: Christmas Gift Ideas for Book Lovers

Welcome to Off-Topic Sunday, a tag that I'm using to post whatever is floating in my head that I want to chat about. For the most part, they'll be book-related but you may occasionally see some non-book-related posts/rants as well.

We're finally in the holiday seasons! Where has 2015 gone? I'm not sure if it's a sign of aging but I definitely feel with each passing year, time is flowing by quicker and quicker. Anyhow, while one side of me is disappointed 2015 is almost over, another (big) part of me is really excited about Christmas and all the great food and company that accompanies it. So this week, I've decided to talk about gift ideas for the book lovers in your family.

Feature Follow Friday: Favourite Non-Bookish Website

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers is Booklover Circumspect 4 and Billbrarian, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Book Review: Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

Series: Firebird (book #2)

Will need to read the first book prior to this one

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: 3rd November 2015

Read Date: 5th December 2015

Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2015 favourites, 4, fantasy, romance, YA-fiction, book review

Check It Out: @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @GoodReads

Book Summary

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents' invention, to cross into alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse - even hurting the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked and his consciousness scattered across multiple dimensions. 

Marguerite has no choice but to search for each splinter of Paul's soul. The hunt sends her racing across a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each world brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with each trial she faces, she begins to question the destiny she thought they shared.

Book Review

Feature Follow Friday: Favourite Ice-cream Flavour

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers is 125 pages and Da Bookaholic Book Blog, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Book Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Series: The Lunar Chronicles (Book #4)

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Release Date: 10th November 2015

Read Date: 28th November 2015

Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2015 favourites, fairy tale, favourites, romance, science fiction, YA fiction, book review, 4

Check It Out: @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @GoodReads

Book Summary

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. 

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend - the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long. 

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Top Ten 2016 Debut Novels I'm Looking Forward To

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

To be honest, I'm not a big reader of debut works. There are so many books on my TBR that by the time I have made some progress in trimming down my list, the previously debut authors have already released their sophomore (or higher) works. But I'm excited to try out more authors and after visiting Goodreads, I was surprised to discover that there are a lot of debut works that I am really excited to get my hands on next year.

Site Announcement: I'm Back!

Okay, it's been a bit longer than three weeks but I'm back now!

I had a really great time in China and despite the almost non-stop catching up with family and eating, I did manage to finish quite a few books so I will hopefully get around to putting up reviews of those books shortly. The books I finished included

         - A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab 

         - Fairest by Marissa Meyer

         - Angelfall by Susan Ee

         - World After by Susan Ee

         - End of Days by Susan Ee

         - Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

         - Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

         - Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

         - The Witch of Duva by Leigh Bardugo

Work and real life took me by surprise when I initially came back which is why I didn't return to blogging during November. (I may have also hit a slight reading slump too) Life has just been too stressful! But with the holiday seasons approaching, I'm slowly settling into the groove of things and I'm looking forward to getting back into blogging and reading. 

Site Announcement: I'm going on a holiday!

After 18 months of all work and no play, I'm finally off on a holiday! Yay! Unfortunately, that does mean I will be taking a break from blogging for the next three weeks or more because Google (and by extension, Blogger) is blocked in mainland China.

Don't worry, I'll be packing plenty of ebooks with me so I'll be sure to get some reading done. And hopefully when I come back, I'll have plenty of book reviews ready to go. But until then, this will probably be the last post from me for a little while. :)

I'll be back!

Feature Follow Friday: Book You Hated

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers is Pinker Than Fiction, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Top Ten Series I Will Not Be Continuing

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Life is too short to waste on books that you are not interested in. This week's TTT topic is series or books that you will not be continuing. Below, I've listed ten series that I will not be continuing. Now, bear in mind, these are my personal opinions and I know some of the choices below may be surprising as they are either quite popular and/or best-sellers. So please don't be offended if I've listed your favourite series below - it's just how I feel.

So in no particular order... with plenty of personal opinions thrown in...

Off-Topic Sunday: Top Five Books I Read in Winter

Welcome to Off-Topic Sunday, a tag that I'm using to post whatever is floating in my head that I want to chat about. For the most part, they'll be book-related but you may occasionally see some non-book-related posts/rants as well.

This is a relatively late post considering Australia is well on its way to getting warmed up and we're finally entering spring. However, I read so many books during winter after my June exams (as I was waaaay behind on my GoodReads reading challenge for the year) so I really did struggle with keeping this list to just five.

P.S. For my full review on each of the novels, please click on the title to get redirected.

Feature Follow Friday: Kiss Marry Kill

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers is Rabbit Ears Book Blog, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Standalone Novel

Publisher: Scribner

Release Date: 6th May 2014

Read Date: 28th August 2015

Tagged Under: 5, 2015 read, 2015 favourites, favourites, historical, literary, book review, adult fiction

Check It Out @Amazon @TheBookDepository @GoodReads

Book Summary

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel. 

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure's converge.

Top Ten Fairy Tale Retellings If You Like The Lunar Chronicles

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is to recommend ten books based on a particular book or author. I've decided to go with The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. While I never read a book just because it's a fairy tale retelling, I must admit I really enjoy them.

So, in no particular order...

Book Review: The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

Standalone novel

Publisher: Redhook

Release Date: 20th October 2015

Read Date: 10th September 2015

Tagged Under: 2015 read, 3, book review, review copy, new adult, mystery or thriller

Check It Out @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @Goodreads

Book Summary

For fans of The Guild, New Girl, Scott Pilgrim, Big Bang Theory, Veronica Mars, or anyone who has ever geeked out about something. 

The odds of Dahlia successfully navigating adulthood are 3,720 to 1. But never tell her the odds. 

Meet Dahlia Moss, the reigning queen of unfortunate decision-making in the St. Louis area. Unemployed, broke, and on her last bowl of ramen, she's not living her best life. But that's all about to change. 

Before Dahlia can make her life any messier on her own, she's offered a job. A job that she's woefully under-qualified for. A job that will lead her to a murder, an MMORPG, and possibly a fella (or two?). 

Turns out unfortunate decisions abound, and she's just the girl to deal with them.

Feature Follow Friday: Ultimate Dream Job

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers hasn't been determined yet, but when it's released, make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Book Review: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Series: The Princess Diaries (Book #1)

Publisher: HarperTrophy

Release Date: 30th May 2000

Read Date: 20th September 2015

Tagged Under: 5, 2015 read, book review, audiobook, book to film adaptation, romance, YA-fiction

Check It Out @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @GoodReads

Book Summary

Mia must take princess lessons from her dreaded grandmere, the dowager princess of Genovia, who thinks Mia has a thing or two to learn before she steps up to the throne. 

Well, her father can lecture her until he's royal-blue in the face about her princessly duty - no way is she moving to Genovia and leaving Manhattan behind. 

But what's a girl to do when her name is PRINCESS AMELIA MIGNONETTE GIRMALDI THERMOPOLIS RANALDO?

Top Ten Books on My Spring TBR

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

The season has changed again! And with a new season comes a new TBR list too tackle over the next three months. Whilst everyone in the Northern Hemisphere is setting up their Fall TBR and getting ready to settle down on the couch with a good book and a hot drink, us book bloggers in the Southern Hemisphere are ready to come up with our Spring TBR.

First thing first though, a brief recap over how I did with my Winter TBR. In July, I actually got very serious with regards to my list and would always make sure I was reading a book from that TBR at all times. As a result, of the ten books on my Winter TBR, I read and completed 7, started on the 8th (and ended up putting that book on my on-hold shelf) so I only have 2 more books to read. This is perhaps my best result for a TTT seasonal TBR ever.

Let's hope I do even better on my Spring TBR!

Feature Follow Friday

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers is I Heart Reading, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Read Online: Leave the Windows Open by Victoria Schwab

I have mentioned my love for The Archived duology by Victoria Schwab several times on this blog. You can find my review for The Archived here and its sequel The Unbound here. 

Victoria Schwab wrote a short story set about 4 hours after the end of the Unbound and posted it on her blog. You can find it here. If you love the Archived duology as much as I do and haven't yet stumbled onto this little gem yet, I highly encourage you to. It just makes you wish for a third volume even more!

Top Ten Favourite Fictional Couples

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is a freebie - which means everyone gets to choose from the previous topics. For this week, I decided to go with my top ten favourite fictional couples because I just have so many!

[Warning in advance] If you haven't read the books these couples are from, then you may accidentally get spoiled by this list of couples. So if you haven't read The Archived duology, A Thousand Pieces of You, Attachments, Ruby Red trilogy, The Night Circus, The Lunar Chronicles, Daughter of Smoker & Bone, Legend trilogy, Pivot Point duology and the Darkest Mind trilogy, then proceed at your own risk. I have warned you.

Anyhow, warnings aside, here are my top ten favourite fictional couples listed in no particular order.

Book Review: The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

Standalone novel
Publisher: Vintage Australia
Release Date: 23rd September 2013
Read Date: 9th July 2015
Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2015 favourites, 5, adult fiction, favourites, historical, literary, book review
Check It Out @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @GoodReads

Book Summary

A novel of the cruelty of war, and tenuousness of life and the impossibility of love. 

Richard Flanagan's story - of Dorrigo Evans, an Australian doctor haunted by a love affair with his uncle's wife - journeys from the caves of Tasmanian trappers in the early twentieth century to a crumbling pre-war beachside hotel, from a Thai jungle prison to a Japanese snow festival, from the Changi gallows to a chance meeting of lovers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

Taking its title from 17th-century haiku poet Basho's travel journal, The Narrow Road to the Deep North is about the impossibility of love. At its heart is one day in a Japanese slave labour camp in August 1943. As the day builds to its horrific climax, Dorrigo Evans battles and fails in his quest to save the lives of his fellow POWs, a man is killed for no reason, and a love story unfolds.

Feature Follow Friday: Undiscovered Talent

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers are Romance Dreamland Book Corner and My Random Book Thoughts, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Book Review: Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis

Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis

Standalone Novel (semi-companion to Stitching Snow)

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Release Date: 6th October 2015

Read Date: 20th August 2015

Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2015 favourites, fairy tale, review copy, YA-fiction, science fiction, 4, book review

Check It Out @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @GoodReads

Book Summary

Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it's hard to escape it. So when a group of men show up at her house uninvited, she assumes it's just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired. 

Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi's vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: one word and her brothers are dead. 

Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home - a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strenght and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers' survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back?

Top Ten Series I have yet to finish/catch-up on

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Technically, this week's topic is top ten completed series that I have yet to finish. However, I have difficulty with that list because of my reading habits. Firstly, I generally don't like to start a series until most of the books have been released. (There are exceptions to this rule including those written by my auto-buy authors but that's a story for another day) Secondly, I tend read sequels immediately. Thirdly, every time I pause in a series marathon and grab something else off of my shelf, I make a decision as to whether or not this series will be one I'm completing.

So as a result, I don't actually have a lot of completed series that I have yet to finish. So I've decided to expand this topic to series that I have yet to finish/catch-up on. Below is a list of ten such series (in no particular order).

Off-Topic Sunday: Trimming Down Your TBR List

Welcome to Off-Topic Sunday, a tag that I'm using to post whatever is floating in my head that I want to chat about. For the most part, they'll be book-related but you may occasionally see some non-book-related posts/rants as well.

Deleting Books From Your TBR List

Book Review: Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Standalone Memoir

Publisher: Dey St

Release Date: 28th October 2014

Read Date: 26th July 2015

Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2015 favourites, audiobook, non-fiction, memoir, 4.5, book review

Check It Out @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @GoodReads

Book Summary

In Amy Poehler's highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious. Powered by Amy's charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book full of words to live by.

Book Review

Feature Follow Friday: Movie to Book?

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured blogger is Newbie Librarians, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc, that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Feature Follow Friday: Book Quote

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers are Books Are Life and One Book Two, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc, that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Book Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Standalone Novel
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Release Date: 1st September 2015
Read Date: 24th August 2015
Tagged Under: 2015 read, 3, book review, review copy, contemporary, YA-fiction, romance
Check It Out @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @GoodReads

Book Summary

"My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I'm allergic to the world. I don't leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. 

"But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean and wearing all black - black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. 

"Maybe we can't predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It's almost certainly going to be a disaster."

Book Review

Feature Follow Friday: Endless Supply of Food

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers are Pipers Book Blog, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc, that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Off-Topic Sunday: Audiobooks

Welcome to Off-Topic Sunday, a tag that I'm using to post whatever is floating in my head that I want to chat about. For the most part, they'll be book-related but you may occasionally see some non-book-related posts/rants as well.

The "reading" experience of audiobooks:

Up until this point of my reading journey, I haven't been a big fan of audiobooks. I've tried a couple - such as the Harry Potter series narrated by Stephen Fry - and although I have enjoyed them, I still preferred to read the books myself for a variety of reasons. For one, my contact with audiobooks is limited to those I can access in my local libraries. Secondly, I sometimes don't particularly agree with the narrator's enactment of a character's dialogue. I prefer to read books aloud in my own head and put my own voices to the characters.

So all in all, audiobooks is a reading medium that I have used the least.

Recently, due to a combination of time pressure, falling behind on my GR reading challenge and the fact my GR friends are all raving about this particular audiobooks, I decided to pick up Yes Please by Amy Poehler. I figured I could listen to a chapter or two on the train to and from work and would be done with the book under a week.

Best decision ever.

Feature Follow Friday: Favourite Movie

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers are Readiculously Peachy and The Book Goddess, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc, that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!

Top Ten Books That Contain Diverse Characters

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

A bit of a shameful confession: I have come to discover I haven't read that many novels that celebrate diversity. In fact, upon finding out the topic, I was almost tempted not to do this meme this week. And even as I type out this post, I don't think I have fully grasped exactly what "diversity" in novels really mean. Is it about having a main character who is not white and well-off? Is it about discussing topics such as racism and war? Is it about all of the above?

I'm still not sure what the correct answer is but I thought I'll give this week's meme my best try. Apologies if my interpretation of this topic is wrong. So, in no particular order...

Series Review: Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

Number of Volumes: 23

Publisher: TokyoPop

Release Date: 1998 - 2006

Read Date: July 2015

Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2015 favourites, manga or graphic novel, 5, YA-fiction

Check It Out: @Amazon, @GoodReads

Series Summary

A family with an ancient curse... 

And the girl who will change their lives forever... 

Tohru Honda was an orphan with no place to go until the mysteriour Sohma family offered her a place to call home. Now her ordinary high school life is turned upside down as she's introduced to the Sohma's world of magical curses and family secrets.

Series Review

Top Ten Books I've Read in 2015 So Far

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Wow, we're halfway through the year already! I can't believe it.

At right this moment, I have read 45 books and am quite behind on my reading challenge. However, with my studying out of the way (for now), I am hopeful that one day I will catch up. Despite having only read 45 books, I still had a struggle with limiting this list to just 10.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Standalone novel
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: 18th October 2007
Read Date: 12th June 2015
Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2, book review, YA-fiction
Check It Out @Amazon @TheBookDepository @GoodReads

Book Summary

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier. 

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. 

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

Book Review

Top Ten Previous TTT Topics

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Wow, it's hard to believe that Top Ten Tuesday has been going for five years now. Happy Birthday Broke and Bookish!!!

Unlike TTT, I haven't been blogging for all that long and so I haven't done as many top ten posts. But of the ones I have done, these have been my top favourites. Sorry, I only have seven this week!

Feature Follow Friday: Tattoos

Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured blogger is The Readdicts, so make sure you check them out too!

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Top Ten Books on My Winter TBR 2015

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

As temperature sets to single digits here in Australia, I can't help but feel a twinge of envy at the fact that my Northern Hemisphere buddies are all blogging about their summer TBRs. However, having said that, I'm pretty excited about tackling my winter TBR as there are several books on it that I've been meaning to read for ages. In fact, I deliberately chose the following 10 books as they have already been sitting on my TBR for quite awhile - some for perhaps too long.

Blog Update: I'm Back!

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Before I started blogging, I knew that starting this project was going to take time, patience and discipline. I knew real life was sometimes going to get in the way of things, but I always thought I would be able to handle it most of the time. Sure, I may let things slide once in awhile, but I will always come back to it.

Right? Wrong. 

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Series: ACOTAR (Book #1)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
Release Date: 5th May 2015
Read Date: 4th June 2015
Tagged Under: 2015 read, fairy tale, fantasy, new adult, review copy, romance, 4, book review
Check It Out @Amazon @TheBookDepository @GoodReads

Book Summary

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin - one of the lethal immortal faeries who once ruled their world. 

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transforms from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient and wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin - and his world - forever.

Book Review

Top Ten Books I'd Love to Revisit from My Teen Years

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

As I have mentioned often in some of my previous posts, I was a voracious reader back in primary and secondary school. Reading then became non-existent during university. And it's only been in the last couple of years that I have really restarted reading in large volumes. So there are a lot of books that I want to revisit! And I had a hard trouble picking among them to only make ten.

Even as I type this, I can visualize in my head the YA-section of the local library that I used to haunt after school. I can see the paperbacks stacked in the revolving shelves and can even remember roughly which column some of these books were located.

Anyway, let's take a trip down memory lane and flip through some reads that I would love to revisit if only I have more time!