Top Ten Bookworm Delights

Top Ten Bookworm Delights
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! Each week, a new topic is put into place and bloggers share their top ten accordingly. Bookworm delights refers to book related experiences that make you happy!
  1. Looking for books at used book shops/ charity shops- I’m a broke student okay most books I own are either presents or from charity stores lmao
  2. Stumbling across a random book series by accident and loving it – I love that feeling when you come across a book/series that isn’t well known, usually self-published one, and find yourself falling in love with that story SO much and you just want to chuck the book at anyone and everything. (see: The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic)
  3. Stunning book covers – We’ve all been there, picked up a book and saw the blurb and thought “ok sounds good but what the actual fuck is that cover tho?” (sometimes if they have ugly covers, I like to re-imagine better ones for them in my head) But every now and then, you’ll see a book with such a pretty cover that you spend more time looking at the cover rather than reading it. (see: Rebels of the Sand – Alwyn Hamilton – this post is on a queue and I bet I still haven’t read the book yet when it’s posted)
  4. GLOW IN THE DARK COVERS – ok the only series I’ve read that had these were Morganville Vampires and I’m still low key bitter that they changed them halfway through the series.
  5. Designs on hardback copies (without the dust jacket on) – I don’t even know how to explain this haha. But I like it when hardback copies aren’t plain. Here’s an example:

    Image Source
  6. When the title of the book is referenced in the book – ok I’m really picky about this but I only liked it when the title is referenced without being really obvious. (sorry thg and divergent, you don’t count this time) A great example would be Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine (k i love this book to death and will most likely never stop talking about it) I actually had no idea how the title fit with the story until the quote “You have ink in your blood, boy, and no help for it. Books will never be just a business to you.” There’s also another quote but I can’t find it right now. And then it made sense, and it made me a bit giddy and more excited to read it. lmao this is so poorly explained but yeah, I like it.
  7. Watching a book fandom grow – This is related to The Foxhole Court. Since I joined that book fandom in late Jan/ early Feb, and the fandom was small and in the span of a month, it exploded and it was AMAZING. So many new headcanons, fanart and fanfic! (I’m so going to make this happen to Ink and Bone – any bookish person needs to read it)
  8.  Meeting someone who likes to read the same things you do – This isn’t very common for me since I don’t know many bookish people in real life so actually meeting someone who liked (or dislike!) the same stuff as me is rare.
  9. Knowing you have all the time in the world to sit and enjoy your book – Right now, I’m in exam frenzy so I barely have time to sit and fully enjoy book. (July 23rd needs to come soon!)
  10. Someone loving a book you recommended – For some reason, I am incapable of not talking about Ink and Bone or The Foxhole Court in this post. I made my cousin read Ink and Bone, and she finished the whole book in three hours! We spend ages face timing talking about it, and fangirling over Khario (Dario x Khalila – the best otp in that book – Wolfe and Santi are a close second.) My Tumblr has been a TFC mess recently, and it made me happy that someone saw that mess and decided to read the series as well.

 

Book Review: Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman

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Note: I'm currently on hiatus due to exams, this is queued.

you can find the book at:
GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Author’s website

my review:
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

~Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review~

Girls had to believe in everything but their own power, because if girls knew what they could do, imagine what they might. 

I have no recollection of requesting this on NetGalley, but I read it anyway since I hate leaving books unread on NG. But this book just wasn’t for me.

In the wake of a popular high school student’s suicide, it sends tremors throughout a conservative town. Hannah befriends Lacey and, together, they form an intimate friendship, luring Hannah into a lifestyle of rebellion and violence, as they bond over their hatred of Nikki, the deceased’s girlfriend.

While the writing was enjoyable, I just found the plot too repetitive and it became tiresome. I haven’t read many books like these – those bad obsessive girls type of books. But this showed me that maybe it’s not my type. I have to admit I wasn’t expecting the reveal and it’s ending – mainly because I didn’t expect Hannah to be capable of doing so. But there’s not much else I can say, I’m very picky when it comes to contemporary, and though the writing style was nice, I just didn’t find it enjoyable to read.

Kindle Edition, UK edition, 368 pages
Expected publication: May 5th 2016 by Little, Brown Book Group
ASIN: B010RGSET0

 

YA Novels with Muslim Characters *NEW LIST LINK IN POST*

A/N: I am currently remaking this list as there have been quite a few additions and the formatting of this post is a bit messy. A new list will be up in the new year. 

Please note: I’m speaking from the view of mainstream publishers, as there have been Islamic companies who have attempted to provide representation.

I’ve been an avid reader and lover of Young Adult novels ever since I could ever remember. I still remember my 12-year-old self borrowing the Darren Shan vampire series one by one from my school library because my parents wouldn’t buy me the entire series. I remember the day my cousin bought me all the The Hunger Games novels, and finishing them all in the space of a couple of days. I’ve been watching the increasing attention placed on diversity in literature for YA in recent year and I love that it’s happening.

In Islam, our faith rests on diversity and universal bonding through similarities. By advocating and encouraging voices to share their stories we can put them on the shelves. To future Muslim authors, I know you’re there, within the writing community, and I’m rooting for you. And with the recent news of Salaam Reads, I eagerly look forward for a broader spectrum of Muslim stories.

THIS LIST HAS BEEN UPDATED AND MOVED TO A NEW PAGE. YOU CAN NOW FIND IT HERE!!!