Summer Reads

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Books, Tea & Me

I don’t know about you, but in Calgary snow is falling right now. In fact, it’s been like this all day. And while I know it is April, it just doesn’t feel like it—meaning summer seems even more unlikely. But while this cold weather will probably continue for another few days, I have to remind myself that summer’s heat will one day be shining down on us and free time will be a bit more abundant than it is right now (thanks to exams and assignments due in the next two weeks).

And with summer comes plenty of reading.

My friend shared with me this website to help me choose my next great summer read—and let me tell you, it was really tough for me to choose just one answer! Many of them sound like great choices that I will, undoubtedly, read at some point. But based on my answers, it led me to Never Let Me Go by Kazuo IshiGuro. Have you read it? And if you have, would you also recommend it?

Now I’m curious about what books you all have been suggested. Click on the link here to find out what book you need to read this summer and then let me know in my comments!

Top Ten Characters I Would Crush On If I Were Also A Fictional Character

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Books, Tea & Me

It’s normal to fall deeply in love with a character…right? It sure looks like it, from what The Broke and the Bookish’s weekly meme is revealing! Well, regardless, over the years I’ve been smitten with many memorable male characters and I’m all too happy to share my obsessions with you! So, without further ado and in no particular order, here they are:
10) Augustus Waters from John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. He’s charismatic, funny and will fight to the end. I don’t care that he’s younger than me; he’s a total babe.

9) Kartik from Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty series. For one, he’s Indian and I’m half-Indian. Secondly, he’s gorgeous, and has a bit of an attitude problem. He’s dark (and no, I don’t just mean his skin colour!), mysterious, a fantastic kisser and cares a ton for Gemma but has a hard time showing it.

8) Gilbert Blythe from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series. He was my first fiction crush (grade three) and I grew up wanting a boy just like him. I’ll always harbour a soft spot for him and will continuously be envious of his and Anne’s chemistry. The movie’s version of Gilbert (played by Jonathan Crombie) was definitely a great casting decision. Mmmm :)

7) Fred Weasley from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. As you’ll see further on, Rowling wrote many wonderful male characters—many of which I fell in love with at least once in my years of reading. But Fred was always my favourite of the twins, mainly because he usually offered the most quips and his personality just radiated through the pages. I love his sense of humour and the way he always cared for Ginny. And the actor who played him in the movies (James Phelps) was absolutely perfect—but I’m still crying over the way they portrayed his death in the seventh movie.

6) Simon Lewis from Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series. Simply put, I loved him WAY more than Jace. I have a thing for guys in glasses and with dark hair, and he fit the bill. Not to mention his total geekiness and strange ways. And his secret love for Clary—unrequited love sucks and back in high school I could more than relate to him.

5) Will Traynor from Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You. As you know from my latest review, I absolutely love this book—and a lot of that has to do with Will. I can’t blame Louisa for falling for the guy. Even though his mobility was limited, his mind was sharp and his personality mesmerizing. He was knowledgable and worldly, he had a great sense of humour and he genuinely cared for Louisa more than he cared for himself. A man like that is hard to find, which is why it was so easy for me to love him.

4) Ron Weasley from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Love. Love. LOVE. I cannot begin to describe my love for Mr. Ronald Weasley—in both the books and the movies (especially the movies). I didn’t fall for him right away, however. It took me a few years to appreciate him, but it definitely hit me in the fourth book when he was trying so hard not to fall for Hermione and ultimately hated Krum. He was too cute. And Rupert Grint made me love Ron Weasley more than Harry Potter in the movies (which is a hard feat, let me tell you…)

3) Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Need I really explain? His dark, brooding, proud, attentive and sexy ways would make any woman swoon. And as you can tell from my in-depth analysis of the movie adaptions, I think that Colin Firth’s portrayal of the infamous man is the best. I don’t think I’ve ever fallen for a movie character so fast as I did for Firth’s Darcy.

2) Peeta Mellark from Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. His character made me laugh, cry, scream, sob, smile, bawl, fret… He made me realize all the emotions I was holding back. I often dreamt of him at night, thought of him during the day, pictured him holding me in his strong arms, and my life with him. Yes. I was that obsessed last year. Josh Hutcherson is a cute Peeta, but not exactly how I pictured him. The Peeta in my head will never be beat. Ever.

1) Harry Potter from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I’ve been saying it since I first laid my eyes on him in the first book: He’s my soul mate. I grew up with him. I cheered for him. I hated him. I feared for him. I laughed at him. I fell in love with him with each book. I didn’t care if he got moody in the fifth book. I didn’t care that he got overshadowed by Ron and Hermione’s love story in the later books. I can even forgive him for falling for Ginny. But I will never let my love die for him. He shall be mine always, and I’ll always be his. Whether he wants me or not.

Top Ten Series I Haven’t Finished

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Books, Tea & Me

We have all done it: said we’ve finished a book or series that, really, we completely forgot about or just could not get through — despite how awesome everyone says it it. We all have our tastes, and sometimes no matter how popular a series may be, we may just not like it. I’m like that. I can sometimes be very picky about books (as you all know) and if I don’t click with the characters, plot or setting, I could care less about the book — often resulting in me just putting the book aside “for later.” The Broke and the Bookish created this meme a long time ago, and I couldn’t wait to admit to you all the series I’ve said I’ve finished but really haven’t!

10) The Immortals by Tamora Pierce

I was in Grade Eight when my friend started gushing about Tamora Pierce and her Immortals series. She and I often shared similar interests book-wise, so I trusted her when I borrowed the first book in the series, Wild Magic. But oh my goodness, I have never been so disinterested in a book before. I couldn’t even make it past the first few chapters. I didn’t want to let my friend down, so after a week or so, I told her that I had loved the book and couldn’t wait to read the second one. She, of course, lent that to me as well and I faked reading it.

9) The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

These books were huge when I was in junior high school, and I couldn’t wait to jump on the bandwagon and read them. I got through the first book no problem, but then I just stopped caring what happened to the characters. The second movie didn’t follow the books at all, I had heard, so I didn’t see the point of reading them. But to this day, I will still discuss the series with people as if I’ve read them.

8) The Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire

I love the musical that this book is based off, but I actually couldn’t make it through half of the first book in the series. I think I was so caught up with school and life, that the book fell to the back burner. And by the time I picked the book back up again, I was disinterested. I hope I can get back into it again soon, because I’m tired of saying of read the books when I really haven’t.

7) Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I loved the first book in the Hush, Hush series. It was well-written, witty and unique. But when I started reading the second book, I began questioning it and wondering why every character had to have some connection to Nora (the protagonist). It didn’t have a realistic edge to it like the first one did, but I kept motoring on. When the third book came out, I tried. I really did. But I lost interest after the first chapter. The Finale is coming out next month though, so maybe I should get back into it again.

6) A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Okay, I know that this series is known world-over and has been said it’s one of the finest children’s series of all time, but honestly? I couldn’t read it. I read the first book, and while it was okay, it just didn’t captivate me the way Harry Potter did (I read both books around the same time; everyone my age started thinking it was better than Harry Potter, which was just ludicrous in my opinion). So to prove that Harry was still the best, I stopped reading this series which was gaining popularity.

5) The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Don’t get me wrong: this is one of my favourite series ever. I read the first three books passionately, but when I thought that it was a trilogy (as Clare had stated back when she was writing the second book), I had closed that part in my heart. So when a fourth book came out, it took me longer to pick it up. I bought it ages ago, but I’ve yet to read it. I will, I will.

4) House of Night by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast

This mother-daughter duo have been given praises for their House of Night series but I don’t know why. It’s so stereotypical and predictable. My friend two years ago raved about the first book, Marked, and told me I just had to read it. So I did. It took me forever to get through it because I was bored all the time. I told her that it wasn’t my favourite and she said that the series gets better, but I’ve yet to believe her. Needless to say, this series is not on my to-read list…

3) Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

The plot to this trilogy is amazing: who wouldn’t want to be able to jump into the pages of their book and experience many adventures? It’s every book lover’s dream, which is why this series appealed to me. I read the first book twice (the first time it took me quite a long time to read, admittedly) and the second book once. But then a year or so went by and when the final book finally came out, I just couldn’t get into it. I still really want to find out how it ends, though, so I’ll read it one day.

2) Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I am obsessed with Anne’s world, as you all well know. But if I’m going to be honest here, I should probably say that I haven’t read any of the books past the first one. For someone who loves Anne, it’s a terrible thing to say, I know. I will get to the series one day when I have more time, because I want to be able to give it the attention it deserves.

1) The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Lovers of fantasy will probably scold me, but I admit that I’ve only read one book in this series: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I love Narnia but when I was in elementary, I couldn’t get into Magician’s Nephew, prohibiting me from reading further. I know that this series is like Tolkien’s — a must read. So I will read it one day, promise.

“A Rose By Any Other Name…”

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Books, Tea & Me

This is such an interesting list by Mentalfloss on 17 famous literary characters that were almost named something else — from Hermione Granger to Scarlett O’Hara, Detective Holmes to Tiny Tim.

I think my favourite change has to be Nancy Drew, though. Her other names are just too funny.

Which ones do you like best?

And Three Awards Later…

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Books, Tea & Me

I’ve been so busy these past few months that I have to apologize for sliding my blog to the back burner as of late. I’m sorry! It’s tough working full time, being an editor for The Student’s Life, maintaining a social life and a relationship, reading and keeping up with Books, Tea & Me. Needless to say, it’s tough. But it’s so worth it.

Anyways, this post is to thank three unique blogs for the award nominations they gave me because it’s most certainly overdue. Because each award will generally have me nominate blogs that I enjoy, I’ve decided to nominate a flat 15 blogs in this post (that’ll be five blog nominations per award) to make it easier on me. I hope you all check them out because they truly are fantastic!

Dear Wilhelmina Upton from Lazy Happy Bored Happy Sad gave me this 7×7 Link Award on May 7th (told you these awards are from a long time ago) and I have to thank her again for the nomination! I’ve never heard of this award before, but apparently I need to tell one unknown thing about myself, link to seven of my favourite posts and then nominate seven other bloggers. But like I said, I’m only going to nominate five blogs to make it easier.

So. One thing you don’t know about me… I have a cockatiel named Sunkist and she’s the best. She’s bright yellow with orange cheeks and is probably one of the mellowest birds you will ever meet! Love to death.

My seven favourite posts:

My five blog nominations:

Thank you so much to The Streetlight Reader for nominating me for the Sunshine Award on June 7th! It means a lot that she nominated both my own personal book blog and the online magazine I write/edit for (The Student’s Life). Again, I’m not familiar with this award, but it looks like there’s a couple of things I must do for it: answer 10 questions about myself and nominate other great bloggers.

Q. 1: What is your favourite childhood memory?

That’s a really good question because I have so many of them. But I think my favourite isn’t just one single memory, but a collection of memories bundled under the same heading: camping. I pretty much grew up camping each summer with my family and our close family friends and their children. I’ve gone everywhere in BC and Alberta — Penticton, Christina Lake, Fernie, Invermere, Bow Valley, Canmore, Kananaskis… gosh, I could go on. It’s because of this tradition that we’re as close to these families as we are today, and that the kids I grew up with feel like cousins to me. I will always remember camping and plan on making it a tradition when I have children one day.

Q. 2: What is a real fear for you?

I could take the easy way out and say spiders, which would be the truth because I’m terrified of them. But I think the thing I fear the most is rejection or abandonment. I hate feeling like I’m not worthy enough and I hate being excluded from others. When I was younger, I had been bullied like most children, and I guess it always stuck with me growing up that there must have been something wrong with me to be treated that way, that I could be rejected like that again. And while I haven’t been bullied since, my hormones took over in my teens — and with that, the continual rejection from guys and abandonment from friends took its place. I seem to shut down whenever that happens and lose my way for a while until I find my place again.

Q. 3: How would you describe yourself?

Hmmm… Loyal, quiet (but I can be the outgoing one sometimes too), a bookworm, a contemplator, a dreamer, passionate, odd, friendly, unique.

Q. 4: What countries have you lived in?

Just Canada and The United States.

Q. 5: What is your style?

Honestly, my style’s changed so much over the many years. I don’t even know what I’d classify it as anymore. Casual? Comfy? Let’s just say I don’t dress to impress most of the time.

Q. 6: What is your favourite breakfast food?

That’s easy: the classic Stampede breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, hash browns and bacon/sausage. For some reason, Calgary Stampede breakfasts just taste amazing.

Q. 7: What are some of your hobbies?

Reading, writing, watching movies/TV, spending time with friends and family, baking, daydreaming.

Q. 8: If you could tell people anything, what would be the most important thing to say?

Oh that’s a good one… Umm… Don’t be afraid of death.I lost my grandma when I was very young and then my grandpa in Grade 7. I didn’t think I’d have to go through that pain again for many years, but that was not to be. I lost my Nanaji (grandpa, in other words) six days into this new year, and I can’t even begin to describe all the emotions I went through and what I’m still going through. But if there’s something I can take away from it all is the fact that one should never take life for granted, but to never fear death either. Death will come one day whether you like it or not, and the only thing you can do about it is to live your life with the upmost happiness and love. Both my Grandma Jean (from what I hear) and Grandpa Len, and my Nanaji believed this and spread their love around — and at the end, that’s what we remember most.

Q. 9: What is one of your passions?

Harry Potter. Don’t mock me, but he’s a big part of my life. I always say that when I get married, my husband needs to love Harry Potter too, so we can raise our children on the Potter culture and foster a love of reading at an early age. And if our children decide Harry Potter is stupid? Well, they’ll learn the way to their grandparents’ house pretty quick. I’m kidding. Except not.

Q. 10: What is one truth you have learned?

As cliche as this may sound, I’ve learned in my 20 years that life truly is a roller coaster. You can be high on life one moment, and then plummet to the ground — heart in mouth — the next. Change is constant, and there’s nothing we can do about it. All we can do is pick ourselves up and continue along the ride.

And now for five other awesome blogs:

And last but not least, I want to thank Read N Cook for the One Lovely Blog Award she gave me on July 3rd. The fact that she thinks my blog is lovely makes me happy, so thank you! For this award, I am to share seven facts about myself and nominate 15 blogs that I think are lovely in their own way.

Seven Facts That You Probably Don’t Care About Knowing But Will Now Know Anyways:

I’m short. Like 5’1.5″ short.
Even though I’m 20 years old, I still read Seventeen magazine.
I want to travel the world one day, and I will.
I built houses in Tijuana, Mexico over my Grade 12 spring break.
I love to eat. And bake.
If I could have a pet tiger, I would.
Even though my boyfriend’s only been gone six days, I already miss him. Only nine more days to go.

Six Lovely Blogs (because I had to choose one more!):

Well, that’s it! I want to thank you all so much for following me on my love of the written word because it really means a lot to me!