post it.

Buy the book here: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads summary:

Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But when splintering, blood-soaked images start haunting her thoughts, Yeong-hye decides to purge her mind and renounce eating meat. In a country where societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye’s decision to embrace a more “plant-like” existence is a shocking act of subversion. And as her passive rebellion manifests in ever more extreme and frightening forms, scandal, abuse, and estrangement begin to send Yeong-hye spiraling deep into the spaces of her fantasy. In a complete metamorphosis of both mind and body, her now dangerous endeavor will take Yeong-hye—impossibly, ecstatically, tragically—far from her once-known self altogether.   A disturbing, yet beautifully composed narrative told in three parts, The Vegetarian is an allegorical novel about modern day South Korea, but also a story of obsession, choice, and our faltering attempts to understand others, from one imprisoned body to another

Where did I heard this book?

When I have heard that this book has won the Man Booker International Prize last 2016, I know I have to get this book and read it. I know that it is getting a lot of buzz in the book world and saying that this book was really dark and scary. So I have decided to find out.

Have you read other books from this author?

I haven’t read other books from this author. But after reading this, I would love to read her other book, Human Acts!

Overall rating in Goodreads: 4.5/5 stars

This book, guys. This book! The experience reading this book is definitely different from reading other genres. I don’t know why but it somehow pulls me into a dark and strange world of the characters in the story all through out. This story is extremely haunting- like a thing that you can’t fully understand but at the same time, there are parts of the book that you truly relate to.

I was not expecting that this book will be this unusual. It has everything that i loved about Haruki Murakami’s books - it is very relatable in a way that it describes how ordinary people live ordinary lives but somehow we all live in a strange and magical world. These kind of books at the end of the day can not be grasped entirely but it has its own strange beauty.

This book is set into Korean culture which is truly fascinating. This was the first time that I have read a book set in Korea and I love how it describes the culture there. From watching Korean dramas and visiting to Seoul before, reading this book triggers all those memories that i have. I especially love how she describes the food - which made me really hungry (no kidding!). It showed how families played an important roles in the lives of the children and it is somehow interesting to me to read this as I was raised in a closed knit family. 

Overall, I was engaged in the book all through out - it was beautiful dark and strange. It was hauntingly disturbing and you will just be gripped until the end. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!

Recommended to readers who have read:

Look what arrived!

Everyone loves BookOutlet! And ever since I have come here in the US, I have loved purchasing books in BookOutlet. It lets me buy a lot of books with a very good price (I even have bought in hardback books which I have never done before).

In general, I am trying to stay away with this site because of temptations. But I just saw a notification and then boom! I bought these:

I don’t know what exactly happened and surprised to open this. I didn’t know that I have bought in 9 books! Most of these books are books from authors that I have not read any their books and wanted to widen my reading lists.

  Armada by Earnest Cline

Why I bought it: Since this book is available in Bookoutlet and I am planning to read both of Ready, Player one and this book. This is a good opportunity to start checking out this author!

The Buried Giants by Kazuo Ishiguro

Why I bought it: I’ve been ogling this book for a while now and would love to give this author a shot! I have hear good things from this author and this is a good thing

Kiss of Deception by Mary E Pearson

Why I bought it: I have hear good things about this series and wanted to start it. Hopefully I can buy all the books in the series in Bookoutlet.

 The Winner’s Kiss (The Winner’s Curse #3) by Marie Rutkoski.

Why I bought it: I wanted to finish the series! And I am fairly surprised that I saw this final book in BookOutlet. Finally, I can finish this series.

Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles #3.5) by Marissa Meyer.

Why I bought it: Before delving into Fairest (and waiting for Bookoutlet to sell them), I wanted to read Queen Levana’s story.

The Secret Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes.

Why I bought it: When I heard about this book, I was intrigued. I have forgotten the plot of this book at the time but the intrigue is still there!

The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak

Why I bought it: I thought of having a nice historical fiction to add on my TBR list and this is a perfect book for it!

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Why I bought it: The cover. And I wanted to read the works from this author which I heard good things from.

A Tale for A Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

I have read that Samantha Shannon  announced in her twitter that pre order of The Song Rising, book 3 of The Bone Season series was open.

Why I preordered:

I have pre ordered the collector’s edition because this book is very beautiful! Since they are changing the covers of the series, and the only way to match the books that I currently have is buying the collector’s edition, I caved. This is going to be the first book that I have preordered and I am excited for it! Just look at the gorgeous cover:

I know that this is embarrassing  but I have also preordered it because I wanted to start the series. Having books in the series on hand motivates me to read the series since I prefer reading books in a series marathon style (like the one I did in the Inheritance Trilogy - totally worth it). This makes it a perfect way to start reading before the third book comes out. Plus, I don’t have to wait for a long time for the third book release, which is a plus!

Can’t afford special editions.

Don’t have fancy bookshelves with Christmas lights around them.

Are male, older, or poc.

Can’t afford a monthly box, like YA or Owlcrate.

Don’t even have a room full of books, or shelves worth, maybe you just have a handful stacked somewhere.

Prefer eReaders.

Might only have worn down, or mass market paperbacks, because they’re cheapest. 

LIKE if you’re a writer/writing blog 

please reblog this if you post about books! I want to follow all of you wonderful people ^^

Buy the book here: Amazon | Barnes and Nobles

Note: Since this is the second book of the series, I wont dive in too much into the plot to avoid spoilers.

(Yes, I am writing a book review of the second book before the first book. And yes, I will write a book review on Furies of Calderon soon.)

My Summary:

The setting of this book happens in approximately 2 years after the events of what happened to Furies of Calderon (review to come). In this world, people from Alera have abilities in which they can summon and use in ‘furies’ - which are elemental creatures. This book and the first book follows around a boy named Tavi who can not summon any furies.

This is the second book of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher:

Furies of Calderon

Academ’s Fury

Cursor’s Fury

Captain’s Fury

Princeps’ Fury

First Lord’s Fury

Where did I heard from this book:

I have heard this book from Regan @peruseproject​ (peruseproject from Youtube) who loved this series and has recommended this fantasy series. I also loved that this is a six book series which for me a bit of a challenge and intimidating.

Have you read other books from the author:

I have never heard of Jim Butcher before and have learned that he is also known for his Dresden series which I believe is more than a 10 book series. I would love to try that series some time after finishing this series!

Overall Rating: 5/5 stars on Goodreads!

What I loved: What I loved about this book is that this continuation of the first book greatly expands the world in the story. It introduced new characters and new plots that I didn’t expect. Like the first book, this book is fast paced and full of action and adventure that will always keep me at the edge of my seat. For this second book, I was now greatly invested with the characters and how they interact with different characters and the world. This book for me has a little of everything - books set in schools / academy / boarding school, high fantasy, politics, love story, action, adventure, family and friendship, which I think is very hard to pull through.

I also immensely loved the new characters (even the bad guys) - or I think were bad guys.  What is good about this book is that it developed the characters in the first book further and you learn about them more in the second book. 

Overall, the pacing of this book is fast but it does not feel like the author has not left things unexplained. From start 'til finish, I always held my breath for all the action and adventure.

Hi everyone! Can anyone recommend me any good historical / fantasy romance books out there? I’ve missed reading those and would love to read new ones for fun!

Last September, I have purchased this omnibus edition of the Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin from Barnes and Nobles. You can purchase this omnibus edition here: Barnes and Nobles | Amazon

My Summary:

This story follows Yeine Darr, a woman from a barbarian nation in the north. When her mother died, she was summoned to go to the city of Sky by the king. And to her surprise, she was named by the king an heir.

Genre: Fantasy

This is the first book of the trilogy:

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

The Broken Kingdoms (review to come)

The Kingdom of Gods (review to come)

The omnibus edition also has the novella The Awakened Kingdom (review to come).

I love this edition! I have been eyeing about this edition in BN for quite some time now. I was a bit intimidated on how big this book was! But I caved in and bought it. The reason why I love this edition is that this is a bind up book containing all books in the trilogy plus one novella. You can practically marathon it without stopping and without waiting for the next book. Also, these editions are always the ‘floppy’ book editions and it makes it easier for me to read. The downside: its heavy!

The cover gives a mystery vibe in it and gives ‘dark’ tones. What made me finally buy this book is that Naomi Novik blurb-ed it on the spine! At this time, I just finished Naomi Novik’s Uprooted  (review to come) and would want something that has a similar tone. 

Where did I hear / read about this book / author?

I always see / read this book from different must read lists and I would want to give it a try. I have also watched Regan (peruseproject on Youtube) talked about it in her book haul.

This is I think one of her earlier works and would love to try to read her works in order. She has the following other series:

The Broken Earth (3 books) - on going

Dream Blood (2 books) - completed

Overall rating: 5/5 for The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms | 5/5 on Goodreads (Overall Trilogy Rating) **

**Since I have an omnibus edition - please note that my Goodread’s rating and reviews are my overall rating for the whole trilogy.  But, I have rated the book individually as soon as I finished.

“But love like that doesn’t just disappear, does it? No matter how powerful the hate, there is always a little love left, underneath. Yes. Horrible, isn’t it?”

This book being first in the series introduced us into the world. I think N.K. Jemisin has introduced the world pretty well in the first book. Some say that this book is very slow paced, but I have not felt that way. Personally her pacing, was just right, she explained the world and how the magic / fantasy works. What I particularly loved about the world and the story is how this book feels like a Greek / Roman mythology. To be honest, I have not yet read any mythology books for a long time and this one just fits right in! The way the society works and how the characters interact based on how they were brought up was fascinating as well. It was great because you can see the distinction between characters based from where they grew up. This was also my first time reading a book wherein the main character was from a matriarchal society.

Yeine - oh how I love Yeine. I love her character overall. I love how Yeine can be very relatable and very inspiring. I think her character showed How women can be strong willed amidst all adversity, how one should do things the right way, how one can be tough on the inside but soft, loving and caring on the inside. The way N.K. Jemisin wrote this story - how Yeine narrated the story is pretty unique. You can hear Yeine’s voice in the story and i like it. I have not read a lot of stories with unreliable narrators and I think N.K. Jemisin has done a good job with it. This can be something that you might be bothered to, but as the story progresses, you will know why this is how she wrote it. 

Nahadoth - oh, how can I forget! I was swooned by him, the moment he was introduced and I loved reading him. I love how his character was in the story. Dark. Always changing. Terrifying. One of my favorite moments in the books are the ones with Nahadoth.

What I think separates this book to other books that I have read is that this book showcased how gods were, their interactions with humans and how this might affect society. Whenever, the book explained about the gods, it has a 'mythology’ tone to it. It was never something simple and the characters were not absolute good and evil. Also, I loved how N.K. Jemisin wrote her characters! She had showcased that diverse characters - in terms on how they look, their perception of beauty and their different personalities and cultures.

“It is blasphemy to separate oneself from the earth and look down on it like a god. It is more than blasphemy; it is dangerous. We can never be gods, after all - but we can become something less than human with frightening ease.”  

The story kept me going, it was never predictable. I was at the edge of my seat all the time and it was wonderful. It was gripping until the end - I have never expected it to end that way. The way how N.K. Jemisin told the story evokes a strong feelings all the way and made me want to not to sleep. (True enough, I have finished the book in 2 days, it was worth it!). This has definitely a strong first book in the trilogy.

I would highly recommend this book for readers who love to read mythology fantasy books and I think readers who wants to read diversity in fantasy books.

Here’s some snaps for you:

Bookprince’s how-to-get-out-of-a-reading-slump:

1. Relax

It’s okay to be in a reading slump! If you do the same thing all the time it is bound to get tedious or tiring, so don’t feel bad about not wanting to read. Everybody has times when they just can’t get into a book, or don’t feel like picking anything up at all.

2. Read a popular book

There is a reason that the bestsellers are best sellers. There is an element of these books that encourages loads of people to read them, so pick one up and try it. Look at the New York Times bestsellers list for up-to-date bestsellers.

3. Read fan-fiction

If you don’t want to read a whole book, or you’re craving more of that one amazing book that has left you in a book hangover- read some fanfiction. There are thousands out there, so peruse Tumblr to find some recommendations.

4. Re-read one of your favourite books

This is a great way to ease yourself back into reading if you are having a tough time focusing on the words on a page, because you know the plot, you know the characters, and now you just have to let the words drift into your brain. 

5. Step out of your comfort zone

Read books in a different genre! Do you normally read YA dystopian novels but you feel they are getting a bit samey? Try a fantasy book. Do you love reading contemporary romances? Dip into some horror. Or just go to a cheap bookstore or charity shop and buy a book you’ve never heard of, it can be refreshing to read an unknown book as there is less pressure to like it and you go in with a blank mind.

6. Listen to an audiobook

You can buy these from iTunes or other App stores, or rent one from your library. Now, when you’re doing the washing, waiting for the bus, or trying to get to sleep you can just listen. A well-chosen audiobook with a good narrator will sweep you into the story!

7. Read a shorter book

Find a book with fewer pages than you are used to, or a YA/middle grade novel with a fast pace. These will take you less time to read and you will hopefully glide through them quickly, allowing you to get back into reading.

8. Get a reading buddy

Call a friend and ask them if they want to read a book at the same time as you. If your friends don’t like reading, find someone on Tumblr (I am more than happy if I’m not reading anything at the time). You will most likely want to finish the book before your friend, so not only is there friendly competition- but you can look forward to a discussion afterwards!

9. Set yourself a daily goal

Do you want to read 50 pages a day? Or will you read for twenty minutes before school or work and then half an hour before you go to sleep? Whether you set your goal in minutes or in pages, this should encourage you to have a routine and get you through a tough book.

10. Take a break