The Two Princesses of Bamarre

Top 5 Wednesday: December 21, 2016

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Fictional Items You’d Give as Gifts

We’ve talked about fictional items we’ve wanted for ourselves before, but in the holiday spirit, what fictional items would you give to friends and family?
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

  1. I definitely want a Self-Writing or Quick-Quotes quill for my mother who is a writer, but struggles to type or write longhand on many days due to a nasty combination of arthritis, carpal tunnel, and bone cancer. With this type of quill she could dictate to it on her more pain-filled days.
  2. For my husband the Herbal from The Tale of Birle (’On Fortune’s Wheel’), it depicts detailed information about any plants that can be used for healing including how to grow them, how to use them, and pictures of each stage of growth.
  3. The amazing portable art supply kit that Tamlin gives Feyre in ACoMaF, described as 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide and jam packed with compartments holding everything an artist on-the-go could need, for Em.
  4. The magic tablecloth from The Two Princesses of Bamarre, which you need only shake out and ask for any meal, for my husband.
  5. Some U-No-Poo (Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes) for every member of my husband’s family.

Top 5 Wednesday: November 30, 2016

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Favorite Villains

It’s been a little while since we’ve done the villain topic, and this one will definitely be a recurring one in the group as there are always new villains to talk about.

  1. The Formics (a.k.a. Buggers) // Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
  2. Captain Hook // Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie)
  3. Lia // Stranger with My Face (Lois Duncan)
  4. Vollys // The Two Princesses of Bamarre (Gail Carsen Levine)
  5. Queen Levana // The Lunar Chronicles (Marissa Meyer)

To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

WWW Wednesday: November 18, 2015

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Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading: Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken
I know, I know, you can’t believe I’m still on this one. I keep trying to finish it, but something keeps getting in the way every day. And when I can finally read my brain just cannot get into it like I did with The Darkest Minds (book 1 in the series). Things are starting to quite literally “heat up” and the important characters are finally coming together so hopefully I’ll be able to finish it tonight or tomorrow morning!

Recently Finished: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Last week I happened to realize I had two (2) days to get this one back to the library so I sat down and read it at top speed, putting off Never Fade again. [Please fake shock now.] Of course it was so good I had to get the other two (2) books in the trilogy from the library right away. I’m so glad Mary from Books and Cookies convinced me to put this on my TBR! My only complaint is that none of the reviews I read happened to mention there was a paranormal aspect so I went into this expecting it to be just like ‘Don’t Look Back’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout. (That is: girl witnesses murder, girl barely escapes with her life, now suffering from amnesia, must figure out who in her life is a bad guy…) So when things got blatantly paranormal I was really confused for a bit and actually had to go back and read a few select paragraphs to clear things up! Also as much as I hate to admit it, I didn’t enjoy the romance at all, love interest boy was 2-dimensional and annoying. There were times when she was clearly saying he should back off and he would just go for more because supposedly he can sens her emotions and knows that she really wants more. And I think it’s supposed to not be creepy because her inner-monologue shows us she really does like his attentions, but it still bothers me, you know? If she says no, no it should be. Period. The End. Amen.
But honestly, overall I enjoyed the novel and plot and look forward to the sequels and the cliffhanger definitely sank it’s hooks into me!

Reading Next: The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
This will be at least my third time reading this one. I know technically it’s marketed to younger teens, but the story is so good it holds up again and again. The braver, more adventurous of the sisters catches a sort of plague going through their kingdom and in order to save her the timid, shyer sister sets out on a crazy adventure for a cure. On her way she encounters ogres, spectres, even a dragon and faeries! For a book that only takes a matter of hours to finish, it’s remarkably good and interesting.

Musing Monday: November 16, 2015

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Musing Mondays is a weekly meme from that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

  • I’m currently reading…
  • Up next I think I’ll read…
  • I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
  • I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
  • I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
  • I can’t wait to get a copy of…
  • I wish I could read ___, but…
  • I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: What has been your most favorite book, so far, this year? Why?

For my first Musing Monday I’m doing multiple prompts because according to Mary at Books and Cookies I should be a rebel 😛

I’m currently reading AND I’m really upset by: Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken. Don’t get my wrong it’s a fine book, it’s just that I’ve hit that second book lag so I’ve been trying to finish the damn thing for like 3 weeks now when I usually only need a couple of days for a book that size. It’s extremely frustrating… And of course it’s going to end in some sort of cliffhanger because there’s two more books out in the series (The Darkest Minds series) and I’m going to have to read them (because it really is a good series, honestly), but I can’t finish freaking Never Fade!!!! *sigh*

Up next I think I’ll read, or reread rather, The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine. This will actually be my third time reading it since middle school, but I always enjoy it and it’s been on my mind lately. Also there’s this other booklr-type meme in which I’m going to need to talk about a trickster later this week and I want Vollys fresh in my brain.

And now for this week’s bonus question:
What has been your most favorite book, so far, this year? Why?
I have to say my favorite so far this year has been Queen of Shadows (book four in the Throne of Glass series) by Sarah J. Maas. If you’ve read it, you may be thinking right now of all the flaws in the book, the sudden character change in a specific precious guy, the out-of-the-blue kinda forced-feeling romance, but stoooooop for a second that’s not what I’m loving it for. The reason it’s my favorite book this year is the load of female badassery! I can’t exactly go into details without spoilers, but just know there is awesome lady character development and bomb women kicking ass and not even waiting to take names! Oh man I’m getting crazy excited just thinking about it all! I mean if you start the book and you’re like “what have you done to this male character I liked??” just know that Maas makes up for it with all of the women, trust me.