Bruna's Books

Look who is actually on time for her wrap up for once.

October was an okay reading month... I wanted to read so many books and participate in so many readathons and read spooky and Halloween-y books, but there just wasn’t enough time for all that. However, I did manage to finish 13 books, most were really short, but still. Despite that, I feel like there were still other books I wanted to read and didn’t get to, but oh well, that is a bookworm’s life, I guess.

My favorite readathon, however, was Dewey’s 24 hours. I just such a great time reading as much as possible for 24 hours!

Let’s just get into the books and the stats, shall we?

Total Page Count: 2384

Audibook hours: 11h40min

Weirdly I have read mostly adult books this month (probably because of the encouragement to read thrillers from the readathons). Not so weirdly, I read mostly ebooks. What else is new.

On to the books:

Carmilla by J Sheridan Le Fanu - ★★★★☆

I love the you tube series and this wasn’t *quite* like it, but I really liked it anyway. Also the only book I managed to read for Victober.

Essex County by Jeff Lemire - ★★★★★

A quiet, yet powerful graphic novel about the intertwined lives of a small town in Canada. Beautiful. 

Bitch Planet vol 1 and Bitch Planet vol 2 by Kelly Sue - ★★★★★

So intense and feminist and hard to read at some point, and I read the single issues, so I got to see the really amazing essays written by contributors. Important comic for intersectional feminism and just feeling empowered (and angry sometimes).

Even This Page is White by Vivek Shraya - ★★★☆☆

I understand were the artist is coming from and the meaning of these poems, but this poetry collection just wasn’t really something that resonated very well with me. I don’t know or read a lot of poetry so it could just be that it is a genre I have a hard time getting into.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor - ★★★★☆

I have read some stuff by Okorafor before and Binti is probably the one I liked the most so far. I have a hard time getting into alien sci-fi, which again, I don’t read a lot and it is just weird. But it is nice to branch out and I appreciate this novel (novella?) and really want to get into the rest of the Binti trilogy.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - ★★★★★

Probably the first time a book becomes an absolute favorite after I have only experienced it in audiobook. But not only the audiobook is perfect. The book is perfect. It gave me pain in the first twenty pages but it also gave me joy (and more pain) on the continuing pages. This book has my heart.

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf - ★★★☆☆

My first Woolf book. There were some parts and quotes of this book I really liked and that spoke to me strongly. However, some parts of the essay were really boring and I felt like they just dragged on for no reason. 

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M Valente - ★★★★★

I love fantasy and this book just had all the right pieces: girl whisked away to fairy universe - check; a quest - check; interesting villains and twists - check. It was beautiful and unique which is hard to find when you read a lot of this genre and hard to believe that a book that had everything to be super tropey is actually a subversion of cliches. Love it and need to read the rest of the series.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - ★★★★☆

Is it weird that I liked this? This book freaked me out so much because I hate bugs, but at the same time it was well written and disturbing and not what you would expect.

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena - ★★★☆☆

It was a fun and addictive thriller. Not too suspenseful and twisty, but I did like how it all unraveled in the end. I thought the writing and the characters were a bit awkward, though. Overall, not very memorable. 

The Body in The Library by Agatha Christie - ★★★☆☆

Christie is always mystery goodness, but this wasn’t the most entrailing of her works. I just need to keep reading more mysteries.

The Witch by Shirley Jackson - ★★★★☆

The only book I manage to finish for the Sbooktacular readathon (that was major fail) and it was only 11 pages! This was super short and weird, but I liked it.

10 books that mattered the most to me that were published in the past 10 years! To celebrate that the readathon is turning 10 today!

That is actually 11 books if you include this year, but 10 sounds better, right?

I have read most of these books between 2014 and now, and not exactly on the year they were published, but these are some of my all time favorites that were published in the past 10 years.

Stats

4,15 average rating

3339 pages read - 30h27min audiobook listening; 296 graphic novel pages

Runes by Ednah Walters - ★★☆☆☆

The story is so cheesy, so full of plot holes. Not to mention the awful tropes: girl hate and the bad boy who the girl can't help to love and cheat on her boyfriend with. There were so many awful things in this book, which is why I gave it 2 stars. However, I am paranormal trash and I am really interested in the mythology created here and in seeing what happens next so there is a high possibility I will be continuing on with the series! Some positives about this one: - The romance was sizzling. Yes, there is a cheating trope that I did not like at all, but Torin and Raine were so hot together. - The book is action packed and definitely a compulsive read. - The Norse Mythology Elements and the mystery behind all that! The negatives: - All the cliches and awful tropes and mean girls and etc. - The pacing was totally off and the story didn't feel very well structered and did not wrap itself up in the end. - The characters were flat and kind of boring most of the time. There was just one thing about them. - So many parts that needed some solid editing, like grammar errors and unecessary narrative. Overall, I would say skip this one, unless you really love paranormal. This book is like junk food for your brain.

In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park - ★★★★★

Listened to most of the audiobook in August. I would highly recommend this book and the audiobook was very well narrated. This is a memoir of a North Korean girl who has escaped living in a dictatorship, but even after that she was still treated poorly in China and South Korea and she suffers from a cultural shock when accepting the reality that the dictator that rules her home country is not actually a God. A very interesting point of view and if you want to learn more about what North Korea is really like, this is a good one to start.

Alive by Chandler Baker - ★★★★☆

3.5 stars I was certainly not expecting this book to be quite what it was. I don't want to say too much about it, because I feel it is better to go in without knowing too much about the plot. I would say this falls on the milder side of horror, since, while it did unnerve me at some points, I wasn't super freaked out (and I am usually freaked out by horror). If you are not reading this because you might think based on the synopsis or some quotes that is a typical YA romance where the girl falls for the bad boy and there is a love triangle... I will just say, it is quite the subversion of this cliche. It did annoy me in the beginning at some points, because I, and the main character, didn't know that. But just don't let that discourage you to read it. Other than that, I found the plot interesting, but the characters weren't very meaningful and the writing style was just ok. A solid read, enjoyable to read, but nothing to flail over. I do think it was a memorable story though, so there is that.

Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Grahan - ★★★★★

I love Lauren and Lorelai and this audiobook was just pure joy!

Snotgirl by Brian Lee O’Malley - ★★★★★

I was so happy reading this graphic novel. It is about a fashion blogger and it pokes fun at that whole internet world, while also weaving a mystery that I am really curious about. I read this book in a weekend that I was feeling kind of down, so it really picked me back up.

Penelope by Marilyn Kaye - ★★★☆☆

Meh. The movie was better. Specially because Peter Dinklage was in it.

Saga vol 6 - ★★★★☆

I am less excited about Saga than I used to be, but still. Solid graphic novel.

We are Okay by Nina LaCour - ★★★★★

My favorite of the month. Just beautiful.

What Happened by Hillary Clinton - ★★★★★

I am not american, but I am a fan of Hillary Clinton (I was a fan just because of what she represented, without even knowing her, after reading her story, I feel I am a true fan) and this audiobook made me tear up, get angry and feel empowered as a woman all at once. I thought the whole e-mail/Russian controversy thing was too ridiculous (not that I think that she wasn't telling the truth, but that it is just too much something that it would only happen in the USA, so it flew over my head), but other than that, I devoured this audiobook (I had to put Hilary at 2x speed, but that's because I needed to listen to it more at a pace akin to my actual reading).

American Gods by Neil Gaiman - ★★★☆☆

I just found out about the Reading Quest like literally today and I am drawing up my Sign Up for it so I can join it time!!! It was meant to be, guys.

The Reading Quest is this awesome RPG challenge hosted by READ AT MIDNIGHT and with beautiful amazing art by  CW of Read, Think, Ponder.

The quest will take place between Sunday 13th August to Sunday 10th September, 2017. That is it starts tomorrow!!

Check out the sign up post so you still have time to join!!!

There are for characters you can choose to play as in this Reading Quest:

I have decided to play as the Rogue, because that is who I am as a person and also because Slytherin feels.

I hope that it is okay that I made mine have blonde hair, because well. I might not have been born a blonde, but I can’t not be a blonde. It is what it is.

I also found this awesome spreadsheet by Lauren from Wonderless Reviews and will be using it to keep track of my progresses and EXP points and stuff.

Now on to the TBR!!

I really want to complete all of the quests and mini-games and will definitely be aiming to do so. 

This is The Quest Board for References and such.

HERE IS MY QUEST BOARD COMPLETE WITH THE BOOKS I WILL BE READING. CAN YOU TELL I AM SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS??

The Rogue

A Banned Book - >  1984

A Book Cover With a Partially Obscured Face ->  Colorblind

A Book With <500 Ratings on GoodReads ->  The August Birds

A Book Published by a Small Press ->  Runes

A Book With a One Word Title ->  Alive

The Mage

A Book That Contains Magic -> Penelope

A Book Based on Mythology -> American Gods

A Book Set in a Different World -> The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

The First Book of a Series -> The Hero and the Crown

The Knight

A Book With a Verb in its Title -> Killing Sarai

A Book WIth a Weapon on its Cover -> The Winner's Crime

A Book With a Red Cover -> Grave Mercy

A Book that has a TV/Movie Adaptation -> Anne of Green Gables

The Bard

A Fairy Tale Retelling -> Gathering Frost

A Book Cover With Striking Typography -> The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

A Book Translated from Another Language -> Britt Marie Was Here

Some challenge squares double up for other characters, so that is why there are less books in the end.

Side-Quests

Potions - A book concoted by 2 authors -> The Bane Chronicles Multiplayer - Buddy read a book -> ?? Does anyone want to buddy read with me? Please? Grind - A book with 500+ pages -> The Lies of Locke Lamora Time Warp - A book set in either the future or past - > Risuko Open World - Read whatever -> We are Okay Respawn - A book you previously DNF -> Brave New World Expansion -  Read a companion novel or short story -> The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Mini Game - Read a graphic novel, novella or poetry collection -> Death Note Animal Companion - Book referencing an animal in the title -> The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

That’s it, I guess! Thanks so much for the hosts for creating this awesome readathon, reading challenge, game.

Happy Reading, everyone!

It’s that time of the month again. Or rather, I am really late into posting a wrap up but better late than never, as they say.

So this wrap up is about reaping everything that I did and that happened in July and what were my favorites and whatnot.

Let’s get started!

My Birthday!

It was on the 17th and my family was here and I got gifts and there was cake and mexican food (not at the same time).

Reading

Mark of the Thief by Jennifer E Nielsen - audiobook. Really enjoyed this one and I am excited to continue the rest of the series some time. It is more of a middle grade story, and an adventure, which was refreshing.

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor - I feel bad, but I didn’t really like this book. I gave it 4 stars, because of its unique concept and the marginalized culture topics, but I didn’t really connected with the characters or the writing style.

Hogwarts Stories by JK Rowling - It’s Harry Potter, so yay. Not my favorite ideas, but still fun and quick to read.

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur - I didn't relate to everything in this book, but still: painful. I think the writing was beautiful and raw and honest. I'm not very good at interpreting poetry nor am I the greatest lover of it, so I guess I am appreciate that this book was more straightforward than you would expect from a poetry collection.

One by Sarah Crossan - My favorite book of the month!! It was beautiful and it made me happy and then it made me sad and then it destroyed me and brought me back a little bit after.

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead - I forgot how much fun it is to read YA paranormal. Not amazing literature or blah blah blah. But I loved the experience of reading this.

Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index by Julie Israel - audiobook. Ah, it was ok? I guess. It was an interesting topic and I thought things were handled well here, but there was nothing special.

Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie N Holmberg - In retrospect, I liked this book more than I thought I did at first. It was just really weird, but it was interesting and magical and it had baked cakes of magic and I kind of really want lavender cake...

I’m feeling guilty because I am behind on my reading schedule for the goodreads challenge and I don’t want to be behind. I really want to read more and stay on top of my reading and read 100 books this year, as I have done every year since starting the challenge!! Hopefully I will get more done in August!!

Watching

Yes, I re-watched it, and it will happen again. My favorite things from this movie are: the Beast is educated and has a library and it is basically a snob 18something prince; the song Evermore.

This movie was awkward and weird, and kind of leaves you wondering in the end what the hell was going on. I quite enjoyed it!

My new favorite series! I need to read the book, because this series made me feel so many things!

Kind of meh about this one, but I am excited to see The Defenders (I still need to watch Luke Cage and Daredevil, but honestly, Jessica Jones is all I care about).

It is back. I am not super excited about this show, but whatever, here we are.

Playing

Still totally into it, but I took a break at the end of the month from playing games, because there was so much I wanted to do and there was Bootube-a-thon so...

This game is beautiful. The graphics are kind of meh, but it just has such an awesome story that you get to play along to! I really want to finish but I also kind of don’t want it to be over...

Random

I baked a cherry pie!

It turned out pretty good!

This app legit changed my life. It is basically like playing RPG of your life and being rewarded for stuff like completing your tasks and daily tasks and habits. It is great to incorporate new habits or even breaking bad ones or just to keep yourself in check and accountable for the things you want to accomplish. There are also challenges that help suggest tasks to you (you can take the challenges seriously but I chose to incorporate some of their tasks in order to fit my life).

I also participated in BookTube-a-thon (just reading really) and I am excited to start more readathons and read more!

tAI’m back! Okay, I know, nobody really cares about that, but let’s just pretend, shall we?

Anyway, I know I have been in a huge blogging slump for the past year or maybe more, I honestly don’t really know anymore. I just haven’t felt like I had the energy to blog with everything going on in my life, and I have barely been able to keep up with reading enough books as it is...

But I felt the need to talk about books and other nerdy things I like again, so I decided to just go ahead and post a wrap up and favorites page, because maybe that will get me back into the swing of things.

I have lately been considering making You Tube videos, but again, not sure if I have the energy, and also, I am a little shy to go on camera... We’ll see.

Let’s just get on with the wrap up!

Things I’ve been doing

Poppilates

I have been practicing Pop Pilates since March now, and I feel like I am stronger and my heart rate and physical conditioning has already improved. It is an aerobics and muscle tone exercise that you can do from home and that is perfect for me, because I really hate going to the gym (and I am trying to save money as well) and this way I have no excuses for missing a workout day -except for days when I arrive really exhausted from work and still have to study, so I have to skip it. I am aiming for a minimal of 3 times/week workout, and I have been doing well so far. If anyone wants to check it out, I take my practices from the Blogilates site. It is totally free to register and get the workout calendar and follow it through You Tube video exercises.

Learning German

One of my new goals in life is to learn German, and since I have very little time and even less money, I have been scavenging the internet for free resources to learn. I have yet to try most of them, but I am slowly making progress with my learning. I plan on practicing on a more daily basis. Duolingo helps with that, however the app recently had an update that annoyed me and I also hate the speaking exercises, because the microphone never seems to work properly for me. I have taken a break from the app because of these little things, but I do think it is worth checking it out. I also have been watching videos from Learn German with Ania. I will report back as I try out other resources.

Reading

The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr - A very interesting story - I sort predicted the whole thing, but it didn't take away from the beauty of the writing. Worth the read. You can read it at Tor.

The End by Lemony Snicket - I can't believe this series is over! While a lot of mysteries were explained and I feel I know a little bit more about the Baudelaires' lives and VFD, I still think a lot of things were left unsaid and not everything was wrapped up in the way I wanted it to be. I can’t wait for more seasons of the Netflix series! Read my full GR review here.

Angels Twice Descending by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman - I did enjoy this one and I don't think it was worse than the rest of these Shadowhunter Academy Tales - even though I gave some of the past ones five stars. I just feel like I am kind of meh about this whole world... Read my full GR review here.

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor - my only 5-star and absolute favorite read of the month!! I have been destroyed by this book. The beautiful words. The world building. The plot twists. The gut wrenching pain of not having your ship ever even have a slimmer of possibility of being happy together. I will have another serving of that. Please and Thank You.

Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee - I would recommend this book if you are looking for a quick fun super hero read with mainly female characters. Read my full GR review here.

Coin Heist by Elisa Ludwig - This book was a really fun experience: Ocean’s Eleven meets The Breakfast Club! Read it if you are in to that.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - This was beautifully written, but the audiobook was not working fot me. It is too slow a book to be listen to (in my point of view, anyway). I think this will benefit from a re-read of the book in print format so I can appreciate the details of the story more throughly.

Clarkesworld Issue 129 - June - Read Clarkesworld Magazine. - My favorite stories for this issue were Fool’s Cap and An Account of the Sky Whales. I plan on listening to the podcasts for the stories from now on.

Be my friend on Goodreads!

Watching

The Flash - I am still way behind in this series, but I watched a couple of episodes this month and quite enjoyed it! I am interested in seeing what happens next.

Switched at Birth - I loved this series when it first aired, but haven’t caught up with it since the end of season one, so this month I marooned all the seasons on Netflix and I am now all caught up with it as of the end of season 4 (I will wait to watch the rest as it comes to Netflix -  if it ever does).

Guardians of the Galaxy vol2. - Just as awesome as the first movie. Hands down my favorite Marvel superhero movie.

Wonder Woman - Went to see it at the theaters and it was amazing! Just like everyone else, I think this is one of the greatest superhero movie ever produced. One of the favorites of the month.

Moonlight - This movie was a strange experience for me at first, but the more I think about and specially after I saw a couple of analysis for it, I will have to say it is one that stuck with me and left me still thinking about it, so I will have to add it to the favorites list as well.

Up - This was a rewatch - so it is obviously a favorite. Also, I cried again.

Playing

I don’t play a lot of games, but I really love this one and was definitely a favorite of the month.

Random

Despacito Song - this song is just a lot of fun. I don’t even care.

Inventing a Quidditch table game - it is not completely set up yet, but this idea came into my head and I just went with it.

New cutesy things I bought this month

Follow my Bookstagram @brunasbooks​.

Here we are again to answer more questions about my novel!

In case you missed it here is the link to the post where I introduce the novel to you.

Just to recap: My novel is called The Salem Witches (so far) and it is basically about teenage witches, love and friendship. It is mostly an all girl cast as well.

Come check out my answers, I even offer my writing apps and resources tips and advice no one asked for (well, the meme asked - so there).

I’m linking up with Beautiful Books!

Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

I have written 25k! So I guess my novel is right on the schedule. A lot of it feels like pure garbage and there is way too many indulgence romance scenes (though they are on the subtle side of romance). As for my mental state. Well, let’s just say I am over caffeinated as we speak and I have written 5k (my personal record) today and plan on writing 10k tomorrow. 

What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?

First of all, I will say that this first paragraph is so completely out of character with the rest of the story. And it is obviously unedited. But the story needs to start somewhere. I think I like Fiona’s voice though and I think I have kept it consistent throughout the novel.

It never occurred to me that night would change my life. But it did. Of course, I started the night expecting to hook up with someone. I know it sounds shallow, but what else do I want to go to a dance for? I like dressing up as much as anyone, but I don’t really enjoy the whole “let’s all get together and talk really loud and dance to silly electronic music with no lyrics”. So I went to Farendel High´s Winter Dance for basically two reasons: because my friend Horace really wanted to go, and did not want to spend the night watching episodes IV-VI of Star Wars with me; and because I was expecting to make out with Ben Hollis for a bit. Ben and I have made out before, so it’s not like I was some loser crushing on him that he doesn’t know exists (like a lot of girls actually since Ben is one of the cutest guys in the second year class).

Who’s your current favourite character in your novel?

Drasiella. It has always been Drasiella. She is a tall, very blonde and very pale girl who comes from a rich family.   strong minded and stubborn, meticulous about work and organization

What do you love about your novel so far?

Did I mention Drasiella? Also, I like the way my plot is going so far. I have this bare bones outline (and I am thinking next time I want to write a novel I will outline harder) but my characters are kind of disobeying it. 

Have you made any hilarious typos or other mistakes?

I usually either correct my typos right way or never look at them again (until editing time. Won’t that be perfect?)

What is your favourite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?

Hum. I guess I like the middle, because that’s where you can get things going with the story, you already passed that introduction point and now you get to just have fun with your characters and watch them grow and interact with each other. And endings are kind of hard because there is that pressure of wrapping up everything in the story.

What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!

I haven’t been writing lately before this NaNoWriMo (I have written a lot in the past, but not in the recent past), but I recently got inspired and the month of November turned up, so I went for it. Needless to say, I wasn’t very prepared writing space wise, so I am still figuring out my habits.

I learned that I can write just about anywhere as long as I am either alone or surrounded by people I don’t know. I can write even on my phone apps (I got a few specific for writing - I’m liking Wordsmith, but I wish it didn’t have so many payment-only features). But mostly I work best writing on my computer (I’m using Google Docs - it is simple, clean and helps you focus on the words only and there is a plus of saving automatically), sitting or laying on my bed. Not the healthiest. I write best when I have the entire day to myself or when I can make writing first thing in the morning.

 I like to look at my Pinterest board for my story before I start to kick up my inspiration, and I also have all my novel things (characters, outline, ideas, chapters, snippets and world building materials) on an Evernote notebook that I keep in check for reference. After that I begin writing. Sometimes I listen to the playlist I made for the novel. But I’m not very good with playlists and I find music distracting, because I want to get up and sing, so most of the time I write to ambient noise only. I also like to snack when I reach certain word counts as a reward.

How private are you about your novel while you’re writing? Do you need a cheer squad or do you work alone (like, ahem, Batman)?

I don’t really like to share details of the novel, especially since I haven’t quite figure out all of them yet. I don’t want to share too much before it is ready to be out there. When the first draft becomes ready for editing, then I will share it with trustworthy betas (If I can find any - the position is up for grabs).

What keeps you writing even when it’s hard?

I guess the NaNoWriMo goal helps me. I don’t like feeling like I gave up on something or that I failed something, even if it’s something I set up for myself. So it keeps me going because I tell myself that I can do this. That if I win this I won’t be such a failure. Also, I want to be able to call myself a writer and to finish a project (I’ve started many unfinished writing projects back in the day).

Another thing that keeps me going is coffee. I swear, I almost gave up on doing 5k today and then I had a cup of coffee and powered through those last few words. I did not use to be this addicted to coffee, I swear. I blame my friends. If they read this, they know who they are.

What are your top 3 pieces of writing advice?

I don’t feel really qualified to give advice, but here goes.

First thing: write what you want to write. Not what you feel you should or how you feel you should. I am Brazilian, but I like English better and I don’t think I could write so much in Portuguese (maybe because I never read fantasy - which is what I write right now - in Portuguese and it just never fitted with how I wanted the story to go). This is just an example. Write what you want and how you want and because you want to write it.

Second thing: try not to second guess your writing decisions. Just keep going and edit later if needed be.

Third thing: Use mini-goals and rewards system. It is very simple. I do things like: If I write these next 300-1000 words, I get to watch an episode of Gilmore Girls/Once Upon a Time/whatever Or bigger things, like if I reach 2,5k I get to go have lunch and chill for 2h. Setting up for big goals and rewards doesn’t work, because it is too far away and you will want to be rewarded now. So don’t say, when I reach 20k I will go to a pub with my friends, because that is not going to work. Do reward yourself when you reach those big goals, just don’t use the reward as way to encourage yourself to reach them, because your dopamine system just doesn’t work like that.

This crazy lemon muffin here has decided to join NaNoWriMo on a complete whim.

Basically I was going to write this story anyway, but I wasn’t going to join anything or attempt 50k words (because that is just insanity). And then midnight of November first hit, and I was technically on call at work, but I wrote 2000 words, so I figured what the heck, maybe I can write 50 thousand words (such a logical assumption!)

To celebrate this moment of impending doom (is not like I have tests, or presentations or books to read this month or anything), I am joining up with the Beautiful Books tag/meme/thingy. (Beautiful Books)

So let’s talk about my super awesome novel, shall we? (It is not the only novel I have in my mind, but it is the one I outlined the most and the one I chose to write first anyway).

What inspired the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?

I haven’t had this idea for a very long time. It all started with the whole adding to the Harry Potter canon that JK Rowling has been doing for a while now. There were all these new magical schools set in different countries and when I read about The Salem Witches Institute (an all girls magic school set in Salem), I knew I had to write a story with that setting. I am not sure yet, even as I am writing this, how much of this story is going to be influenced by the actual current information on the school or even if I am allowed to use the idea of the institute or if that would be consider fanfic... My magical system isn’t HP related though. I have come up with a different thing (is not fully developed just yet).

If I have to change names or whatever in the future to get this story to be more just a word document, than ok, but for now I’m just going with my gut and with what I’m happy writing.

Describe what your novel is about!

A story about a girl who learns that magic exists and goes on a journey of self-discovery.

Fiona is a sixteen year old witch who receives a prophecy from a lady`s ghost. She must go to Salem and stop the killings. There she discovers this whole new magical world she never knew existed and she makes some magical discoveries about herself and about love and friendship as well.

In the Institute, she meets Drasiella, her obnoxious, super powerful roommate. They are soon driven into each other’s worlds in ways they could’t have imagined.

My official synopsis for the time being. Basically Fiona is a bissexual witch who didn’t know she was either prior to the beginning of the book, and this story is going to be about self discovery and love and friendship.

What is your book’s aesthetic? Use words or photos or whatever you like!

I’m not ready to fully share my pinterest board with the whole world, but here is a sneak peak:

Introduce us to each of your characters!

I don’t want to reveal too much right now, but basically we have:

Fiona: a girl who likes photography and reading and sci-fi, who has her whole world turned upside down when she discovers she is a witch and she has no idea what to do with the rest of her life now and I can totally relate. She nonetheless is the kind of girl who manages to make friends mostly everywhere she goes.

Drasiella: she comes from a line of powerful witches and wizards and is expected to do certain things like being the ruler of them all and marrying someone to that effect. She wants to rule for sure, but she is not interested in doing it with anyone else. She is a bit scared of her own self, but she is a go-getter for sure.

How do you prepare to write? (Outline, research, stocking up on chocolate, howling, etc.?)

So far it has involved coffee and the pomodoro technique. Candy and chocolate as well.

What are you most looking forward to about this novel?

The romantic scenes (I’m not even sorry).

List 3 things about your novel’s setting.

Basically set in the Institute which is:

-a magical castle, so it has old doors and secret passageways and poison ivy along the walls and magical objects who sometimes fling themselves at you when you need them or even if you don’t;

-it has a forest in the grounds where the girls get herbs for their potions and spells and where some rituals are performed;

-it has modern looking dorm rooms and wi-fi access, because this is not that kind of fantasy

What’s your character’s goal and who (or what) stands in the way?

Basically they are just precious muffins who want to be happy and stay alive, but ghost apparitions and supernatural killings get in the way. Drasiella’s father also gets in the way, like, a lot.

How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

Hopefully Fiona has learned new things about herself and has figured out how to accept who she is and what she wants.

What are your book’s themes? How do you want readers to feel when the story is over?

I want it to feel happy and fun like good witch stories ought to be. I also want to discuss, most importantly the self discovery theme, but also the importance of friendship and all forms of love.

And there is that. Now I’m off to some actual NaNoWriMo work or just work, you know. Let me know if you are participating, and I would love to know what everyone is writing about!

PS. I’m Brazilian, but I’m writing in English because it is my favorite language. I can do whatever I want.

PS2. I’ll try to update what I’m writing and how I’m doing somewhat regularly if I manage to get stuff done. 

I’m back! Still slowly crawling out of this blogging slump.

I saw this week’s topic in a couple of blogs and thought it would be fun to put down my own top ten over here.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s theme is:  Ten Reasons I Love X -- could be a certain book, character, author, your indie bookstore, a fandom, a tv show, reading, a hobby, a genre. Honestly anything you want to gush about.

I saw a couple of blogs doing favorite things they love about audiobooks or certain specific genres and I was trying to see if I had anything unique that I loved to talk about too, and the it hit me: I love everything! So, I thought I would talk about my favorite things about all of the formats.

As you may or may not know I love reading in all formats (paperback, hardcover, ebook and audiobook - a most recent love) and most genres. I also love reading multiple books at once and I found that it helps if they are different formats.

I wasn’t always this way: back when I was a youngling, I would look down on ebooks and read only physical books. I also could only read one book at once and I had to finish the book I was reading before I even thought of picking up a new one.

Thanks to book blogging and reading other blogs, watching booktube videos, etc, this has drastically changed in the past two years.

Let’s get down to the list shall we:

 1) I love physical books because they are beautiful! Yes! I mean who doesn’t love a lovely shelf filled with lovely books?

2) I love physical books because they feel cozy and smell nice! It just nice to curl up with a book sometimes! I also thing that sometimes you can concentrate better on physical books because you can shut your devices of and live just in that moment.

3) I love ebooks because they allow me to read anywhere! Honestly with ebooks I can read a couple of pages on my bathroom break at work or in between patients or activities. Also in my commute if someone is driving me, traveling, etc...

4) I love ebooks because they allow me to read books that are sometimes hard to acquire or too expensive in my country! I live in Brazil, so not all the books I want are available to me in physical format right away (though most are, but are way too expensive). I prefer to read in english so it is much cheaper to buy the ebook or to use my Scribd subscription. Which I’ve been doing quite a lot lately - they have a great selection of older books and it costs less to subscribe and read there than to buy the ebook. Scribe works sort of like a library in that sense. It’s too bad they don’t have many new releases. 

   5) I love ebooks because they make me read faster!  This one is a no brainer: I have more time available to read ebooks outside the house, the screen on the iphone or even the kindle is smaller so I can feel like I’m flipping more pages in less time.

6) I love audiobooks because I can listen when I’m driving! Driving is so boring. At least if I have an audiobook on I don’t feel like I’m wasting my life in traffic jams.

7) I love audiobooks because they give me the option to read books I might not have the opportunity to read in physical format! Thanks to my Audible and Scribd subscriptions I get at least one audiobook every month. Because I want to listen to audiobooks and I have already paid for them, they are already on my monthly budget. So it’s ok to pick up whatever book I want because I already bought so it’s not adding to the TBR and it always costs the same amount. Does that even make sense?

8) I love audiobooks because I can read when I’m tired! Reading with you eyes closed. Nuf said. I need to be careful not to fall asleep though.

9) I love reading multiple books at once because it makes me feel like I’m multitasking! I finish like 5 books all at once (especially if I also pick up graphic novels). That’s always a great feeling. 10) I love reading multiple books at once because I always have a backup book if a section is boring or scary! Sometimes I’m afraid of what is going to happen next in a book or it has a middle part that is dragging on. So I just switch to the next and that way I’m still reading.

Haven’t done one of these in a while, huh? (Blog post and wrap up) I have not been keeping up with the blog, but I have been reading so... Time to update!

I will be talking about the books I read in April mostly, since the ones I read in March were shown in previous weekly wrap ups (except for one, which will have a review coming up soon)

You might want to check out my goodreads shelf for mini reviews on some of these books.

What Else Have I Been Doing?

Working

My neurology residency has really hit me over the head these past few months, so I have been quite busy with work and studying and this next month (May) there will be even more working and studying.

German

I have also recently become obsessed with learning German. I do tend to have these bursts of obsession with a certain topic that come and go, but I do think this time is for real and I am quite determined to teach myself German. I have found several online resources and am following a time table of sorts.

Bullet Journaling

Another one of those obsessions, though my journal isn’t nearly as pretty or organized as the ones out there on instagram. But I might share it in the future. Maybe.

Now, I am by no means an expert on Jane Austen or Pride and Prejudice and I don’t want to give that impression here. However I have read and enjoyed the book (immensely) and have seen a couple of adaptations and have an opinion on them. There are also quite a few retellings I have not yet read, and I will mention those if you’re looking for more Pride and Prejudice stuff.

The Book

I can't remember when I originally read this, some time in between high school and uni probably. I also can't remember loving it quite this much the first time I read it. Maybe I've improved in my reading skills and am able to appreciate it more. Maybe the fact that I read the first book in Portuguese caused it to lose some of its richness in translation. Because this book is all about the language and how well written it is. It is old language, but even so I found it incredibly easy to read, compared to other classics at least. The writing flows well, and is embedded with sarcasm and social commentary that make it hilarious - which is another thing I don't think I appreciated on my first read.

It is also a great love story - I love how Lizzy and Darcy both complement and contrast each other. I love their tension and antagonism at the beginning. I can't help but rechoice in the fact that this book revolves around a romance story, revolves around love, it was written by a woman and it's considered a great classic. And yet in modern day romance books/books by female authors are undervalued. Let's think about that for a second.

Anyway, I also love the other characters, they really add drama and humor to the whole thing - especially Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their interactions. The romance between Jane and Bingley isn't quite as visible, since we are mostly going through Elizabeth's POV - but still good. I say mostly her POV, but it is really an omniscient narrator who spends most of the time with Elizabeth, but who occasionally shows other characters.

I don't think I can talk about this book without gushing anymore - can you tell how obsessed I am?

The BBC Mini Series

A lot of people consider this to be the best Pride and Prejudice adaptation out there. It is good, but in my opinion it is a bit bland. The actors do a great job, and it is very faithful to the book - but I prefer the adaptations that explore the humor and the romance of Austen more. I also think the girl who plays Elizabeth is soooo boring (I tend not to really like Elizabeth anyway). Love Colin Firth though!

The 2005 Movie

I think the movie is very adorable, stays faithful to the story and has the humor and romance. Probably works better for me because it is more modern.

Lost in Austen

This is basically self insertion fan fiction, and that is why I love it! I’m obsessed with this mini series, love how it mirrors the old BBC one in some ways, love the way it completely garbles the original story plot wise, but stays true to its essence.

Austenland

A girl goes to an Austen camp and meets her own Mr. Darcy. It was cute and funny, but mostly really silly. However, it is a visually pleasant movie and it has a feel good sort of romance, so if you’re an Austen fan, might be worth checking out. It has Pride and Prejudice elements, and obviously discusses the book a lot, but it is not exactly a retelling.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

This youtube web series based on Pride and Prejudice that everyone should be watching right now. It is a modern retelling and it stays faithful to most of the book, only adapting certain things for modern days sake.

The Retellings (books)

I have not yet read all of those, so I can’t cast opinions on them, but I thought I’d show them anyways.

I can’t recommend the first comic - it is awful, but the manga version is quite cool. Bridget Jones is know to mostly everyone, and it is fun, but it is a type of humor that I’m kind of sick of. I think the Lizzie Bennet one is basically the web series in book form, so I’m curious about that! 

Oh my God, I really need to catch up with blogging and reviews! But I’ve been working and studying so much is hard to even just read for pleasure. But I’ll try to keep up with blogging as much as I can and will post my reviews as I am able to squeeze in free time here and there.

What I Read

I basically binge-read the entire Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series on Scribd and finally finished my audiobook (The Siren) and Wait for You, both of which I started last week. I did not like Wait for You, but The Siren was quite fun.

Currently Reading

Fulfilling my classic challenge of the month with We (which is a shorter classic, that I will read at a slower pace). Shiver for my audiobook and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, because I was able to get the portuguese edition for free, and the the movie trailer made me want to read it. So, clearly is was fate.

What I Watched

God, this show is getting so good. I hope it stays that way. I hear is not that different from the books, but I am very interested in reading them to see how they are.

This second half of the season is pretty good so far, though I liked last week’s episode better - for obvious EvilRegal reasons.

Can Malec just happen already? God. Though I think this week’s episode was the best so far - I just love alternate universe stuff.

Also, with all the Lady Midnight buzz going on and this show, I really feel like I need to catch up on all the Shadowhunter stuff I haven’t read yet.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature at The Broke and The Bookish.

Here are the main books on my TBR pile that I want to make sure I get to this next few months. They have been sitting there for way too long - and plus, they are spring-y looking!

Okay, so I’m behind on everything, including life...

Just wrapping up this week so I don’t miss the count.

What I Read

Currently Reading

What I Watched

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature at The Broke and The Bookish.

This week I will be talking about (somewhat) popular characters I don’t particularly like/care about.

Jon Snow from GoT - I don’t hate him or anything, but his storyline is my least favorite. Boring Wall stuff…

Jacob from Twilight - I don’t get Team Jacob - at all 

Four from Divergent - meh

Anna and Etienne from Anna and the French Kiss- cheating and also meh

Christian Gray - need I say more?

Rhysand from ACOTAR - what are you even doing?

Alex from Delirium - meh

In Which I Flail Over Mistborn

Yes, this series is fantastic, the conclusion is blow-your-mind, take-everything-away-from-your-soul incredible and everything is not happy and bubble unicorns made of rainbows, but it is satisfying and worth the journey through until the end. Which is not even really the end because there are three more books set in another era which sound amazing and I want to read because I just want more of this world.

This review does not spoil anything, none of the books. Pinky promise.

Let's talk about why this series is so great and you should be reading it, shall we? List making time.

-It has incredible fantasy world. Brandon Sanderson has created this amazing magic system that has logics and rules and that functions in a way that seems ingrained with nature. Because in case you didn't know, nature is mathematics and logic. I need my magic system to have logic and rules and I need there to be different types of powers and teachings on how to practice them, which this book does have. There is more than one type of metal magic, and each different metal works a different way. Also there are deities and the Cosmere which fit in with his other books (which I totally want to jump in on, but I have a feeling Mistborn will remain my favorite world).

- Vin. Like seriously Vin. Okay she is the only really developed and established female main character (all the others are males) and that is Not Cool. However, she is awesome, she does her own thing, she protects everyone, she is kind, she is powerful, she is wise. Vin is everything. Her character development in this series is A++.

- All the other characters and storylines. Everyone's stories interconnect with each other and come together. Everything is connected. Everything matters.

- The plot twists - that okay, I guessed a couple of times, but that didn't make them any less awesome.

- The first book has a conclusion on its own, so if you read that, maybe you are satisfied with how things ended. Maybe you feel complete. Don't. You absolutely need to read the whole thing, because it expands so much more into everything. I also don't even think reading the first trilogy completes it all because there is more world-building to be discovered in the next books (I hope).

So I guess if you like awesome high fantasy books that are less daunting and more easily devourable than the usual stuff, then that is the series for you. If you are scared of high fantasy - give the first book a try!

This week was absolutely hectic. I managed to finish the books I was reading, but everything else was just about work.

I’ll just be showing you the books then, and there won’t be any links since I didn’t have time to visit any blogs (seriously, it was that crazy). Hopefully things will settle down this week, now that I’m getting more used to the new work rhythm.

What I Got

via Netgalley! Thank you to the publisher!

What I Read

Currently Reading