September TBR

Hello everyone!

It’s that time of the month again where I share the list of some of the books I plan on reading in the next month. I honestly don’t know how much reading I will get done now that I have started grad. school (I am working on getting my Masters in Library Science), but here are a few of the books I am definitely picking up this month:

Will Not See by Chautona Havig 

Corner Booth by Chautona Havig 

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon 

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory 

Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham 

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

 

Book Review: Words in Deep Blue

Hello Everyone!

Today’s review is on Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley.

When I first picked this book up I did not know what to expect. I had heard several BookTubers talk about it and it sounded intriguing, but at the same time I am not a big fan of contemporary because often they are too light and fluffy, and even formulaic. However, I was drawn by the fact that the plot centers around a bookstore and writing letters in books to each other so I had to at least give it a try.

Words in Deep Blue is about Rachel who left a note for her best friend and crush Henry Jones in his favorite book in his family’s book store before she moved. Now it is several years later and Rachel moves back to the city and she is forced to work with Henry, who she has cut out of her life because he never responded to her letter. And she is also dealing with the recent death of her brother. Henry is dealing with a flighty girlfriend and has no idea what the future has in store for him. Together Henry and Rachel work together in his family’s bookstore, which is on the verge of closing, and slowly start to get to know each other again.

I really enjoyed this book. Even though it dealt with death and grief, it also added ironic humor to the mix which made it relatable. There were several great one liners where I had a good laugh because I felt like it was an apt description of my life right now. However, when it was dealing with Rachel’s grief over the death of her brother it was sobering. I really loved the writing style it was just a perfect blend of humor and seriousness that it made the book a great read! (Just a note: there is some bad language, for those who don’t like that kind of thing).

I loved Rachel and Henry and how the novel showed their parallel stories even though they interact with each other a lot. I also enjoyed Henry’s sister George who said a lot of the one-liners that I previously mentioned. She definitely provided the comic relief in the story, but she was still a well-rounded character. I liked Martin, even though he isn’t as fleshed out as the other three characters.

Another aspect that I liked about the novel was the letters that are found by the characters and even written by the characters throughout the novel, it added an extra touch to the plot.

I felt like Cath Crowley did a great job of handling grief and trying to move on months after the fact. And it was also set in Australia which is awesome!

I am giving Words in Deep Blue 5/5 stars because I really enjoyed it and it has definitely made my favorite books of 2017 list.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

The Reading Quest Week 1 Update

Hello everyone!

A few weeks ago I posted my TBR for The Reading Quest hosted by Reading at Midnight. So far I am a week into the reading challenge and I think it is going pretty well! I am having fun adding up all my health points. 🙂

Here is my character card with the experience and health points I currently have:

Right now I am still on Level 1 (I can level up every 50 XP) and I have 20 expereicne points and 126 health points. I have only completed one book and one challenge so far, but I am currently working on three other challenges which I am hoping to complete by the end of this week.

The first book I finished was Outlander, which was 850 pages. I really enjoyed it and even though it took me the whole week to read I don’t regret choosing it as one of my books for the Quest. I used it to complete the challenge of reading a book that has a TV/Movie adaptation.

 

After I finished Outlander, I picked up the second book in the series, Dragonfly in Amber and I am about 210 pages into it so far. I am using it to complete the side quest of reading a book with an animal in the title. I am also reading One Piece Omnibus Volume 3 which is a bind-up of volumes 7, 8, and 9 of the manga series. This will complete the side quest of reading a graphic novel, novella or poetry collection. And I also started reading An Awakened Heart by Jody Hedlund which is a companion novella to her Orphan Train series. I will be using it to complete the side quest of read a companion or short story.

So far my TBR is staying the same, except I might change the book for the challenge of read a fairy tale retelling to The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor because I really want to read it and I currently have it checked out from the library.

Some other books that I might pick up during The Reading Quest to  complete some of the side quests are:

The Secret Diary of Lizze Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick – completes the challenge of read a book by 2+ authors.

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon – completes the challenge of read a book that is 500+ pages

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory – completes the challenge of read a book set in the past/future

                                    

Will Not See by Chaunton Havig – completes the challenge if reading any book I want

The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas – completes the challenge of a book I previously DNF’d

Let me know if you are taking part in the Reading Quest and how you are doing so far with the reading challenges.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

 

 

Try a Chapter Tag #2 – Library Edition

Hello Everyone!

Today I am doing another installment of the Try a Chapter Tag. Recently I checked out a bunch of library books and since I don’t know if I will get to all of them, I have decided to do the Try a Chapter Tag to see which ones I keep and which ones I take back to the library. I am doing this in two parts, so come back next Friday for part 2 in my Try a Chapter Tag – Library Edition.

The Try a Chapter Tag was originally created by BookTuber Book Paradise. Click here to see her original video. 

Without further ado lets jump into the books:

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennett by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick 

I liked what I have read so far, especially seeing how it ties into the YouTube series. I am to keep this at least for another week or so, especially since it can qualify for several challenges in #TheReadingQuest. What I also I like so far is that I can imagine the characters voices in my head.

Future Perfect by Jen Larsen

Eventually I will pick this book up again because it does sound interesting, but right now is not the right time. Ashley’s grandmother is well-meaning but she is still wrong in the way she treats her granddaughter and that frustrates me. I do like how it seems to deal with the issue of size, however I’m not in the mood to read something like this right now.

Sophie Someone by Hayley LongIt seems interesting, but the language will bug me – using “noodles” instead of “name”, “bruiser” instead of “brother, etc. It also took me a while to figure out what they meant. However, there is a warning at the front of the book, but it is still off-putting. For right now I am saying no to Sophie Someone, but I might pick it up eventually.

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett 

I like it so far. One thing I don’t like is the trope of some tragic secret that happened in the past – it irritates me so much. I’m looking forward to the You’ve Got Mail vibes that I heard others talk about.

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

I loved the opening line: “On the first day of September, the world went dark.” It is intriguing and made me want to keep reading. The whole opening page was picturesque. The first chapter was a good start and I like where it is going. I don’t know when I’ll pick it up, but I’m going to hang on to it for a while.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

P.S. Don’t forget to click the blue follow button and follow me on Twitter (@Jlc0904Janelle) and Instagram (@jazzyjan101).

The Name Change

Hello everyone!

It has been about a week since I moved from Blogger to WordPress, and The Scribbler became Meanderings of a Bookworm.

The reason for the change is that I felt like it was time to give my blog a makeover and I was finding it difficult to use Blogger in more innovative ways to improve my blog. I had heard in the past that WordPress was better than Blogger, however I wanted to do my own thing and refused to accept it. But since I felt that a change was needed on my blog I decided to check it out and see whether or not I wanted to use it as the new home of my blog.

After spending a few hours of playing around with WordPress, I discovered that it was easier to use and make changes than on Blogger. I also decided that if I changed to WordPress then maybe it was time to change the name as well; for a while I have been wanting to change for a while.

I also felt like a change was necessary since I started The Scribbler back when I had just finished my senior of high school and two years later I decided to turn it into a book blog. However, now that I have graduated from college and I am a little bit older I also wanted my blog to reflect the changes I have been going through.

For those of you who read The Scribbler, welcome to Meanderings of a Bookworm and I hope you enjoy the content of this blog as much as you enjoyed the old blog! To my new readers, welcome! I hope you enjoy my ramblings about books and anything book related! 🙂

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

P.S. Don’t forget to follow the blog and like the Facebook page. You can also follow me on Twitter (@Jlc0904Janelle) and Instagram (@jazzyjan101).

Tome Topple Update

 Hello Everyone!

As some of you know I have been taking part in the Tome Topple read-a-thon. Click here to read more about it and my TBR for the read-a-thon.

I thought I would be able to finish one tome within the first week, however it is now 9 days in and I completed my first tome yesterday. For some reason I was in a reading slump for about two/three days, partly due to trying to not pick up the book I really wanted to read (Outlander) until yesterday which marked the start of the #TheReadingQuest. However, I soon got over it and finished A Court of Wings and Ruin!

 

This behemoth was 699 pages and I’m not going to lie, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would because it just seemed slow and not as action-packed as I was expecting. But I did enjoy the political intrigue elements of it. I am still deciding on whether or not to do a longer review on it, so watch this space!

 

Once I finished A Court of Wings and Ruin, I dove right into Outlander and I have managed to read about 233 pages so far. I am hoping to finish it this week, but I am also wanting to take my time with it because I love the writing style.

I also listened to about 7 hours and 40 minutes of The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan which is about 250 pages, I am going to keep listening/reading to it, but I don’t know if I will finish it by the end of the Tome Topple Read-a-thon.

So all together I have read a total of 1182 pages in the last 9 days, and I am hoping I can finish strong in the last four days of the read-a-thon.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

P.S. Don’t forget to hit the follow button on the right hand side, and to follow me on Instagram (@jazzyjan101) and Twitter (@Jlc0904Janelle).

Book Review: Dark Tide (Waterfire Saga #3)

Today’s review is on Dark Tide by Jennifer Donnelly.

Click here to read my review on Book 1, and click here to read my review on Book 2.

Dark Tide picks up a few days/weeks after the events of Rogue Wave. Serafina has been betrayed by those who she thought she could trust with the events that have happened so far, but she doesn’t let this get her down. She becomes the leader of the Black Fin Resistance and does everything she can to be one step ahead of her enemies as well as try and make sure that her friends find the rest of the talismans before the Death Riders do. Meanwhile fellow mermaid Ling has been captured by the villainous Rafe Mfeme, a human who wants to gather all the talismans to use for evil (at the end of book 2 a big secret was revealed about him but it is kind of spoiler-y so I am not going to say what it is), forces her to work in a prison camp in her kingdom to help search for one of the talismans. Becca finds Astrid, who had previously left the group at the end of the first book, and finds out she is hiding a shameful secret that is making her angry. Ava can’t return to her home and is forced to seek shelter elsewhere.

This was a great sequel to the the previous book. I loved how we got to see each of the six mermaids’ perspective and what they were going through, rather than just Serfina and Neela’s. Once again, Jennifer Donnelly does a great job with the continuous world-building. She develops the magic system even further and the myths that she has created for this series.

I loved getting to know Ling, Astrid and Becca more in this book, especially Astrid because the reader starts to understand her a bit more. I loved Ling’s story line and some of the sweet things that take place against the backdrop of some horrible things too. Becca’s story was also great, especially when she tries to get her talisman and how she deals with Astrid. I loved these characters and I am going to be sad to see them go at the end of the fourth book. I also loved the continuing tension in Serafina and Neela’s story line. I also liked how we got the wicked Lucia Volerno’s perspective a few times and I can’t find out what happens next.

This book was filled with gorgeous details, action and plot twists. I am giving this book 4/5 Stars because it was an interesting, fun read.

Happy Reading,
Janelle L. C.

 

P.S. If you have any book recommendations let me know and I will check them out! 🙂

Book Review: Rogue Wave (Waterfire Saga #2)

Today’s review is on Rogue Wave by Jennifer Donnelly

Click here to read my review on the first book, Deep Blue.

Rogue Wave picks up where Deep Blue ended, Serafina has just escaped from the sea witches cave after the death riders caught up to them. She has no idea where the other five mermaids have gone and she has no idea if they are still alive. As she journeys back to her kingdom to see what is left with it after the deadly attack that took place in the first book, she first tries to find the talisman that belonged to her ancestor, Merrow,  at an old shipwreck. Meanwhile, her best friend Neela travels back to Matali, where her parents have now become the rulers. However when she tells them her story they don’t believer her and lock her in her room. She soon escapes and goes in search of the talisman that belonged to her ancestor. As they race against time to find the talismans, they also discover that the plot that was enacted against Miromara is far more sinister and wide spread than they thought.

I loved being immersed in this fantastic, underwater world again. Jennifer Donnelly does a great job at continuing building the world that she introduced in Deep Blue. She continues to provide a detailed description without it being an information dump on the reader. She also does a good job of building upon the magic system that she introduced in the previous book. I love how we got to journey to Neela’s kingdom for a while and experience what the life and culture of that underwater kingdom is like.

I loved the characters and Donnelly does a good job of developing them even further in this second installment. Serafina discovers that she has more courage than she thought she could and is powered by her love for her friends and for the people of her kingdom. Neela discovers that the life of a pampered princess is no longer for her but that she needs to journey to find the talisman even if it means disappearing from the palace again. She also discovers that she is braver and smarter than she knew when she has to find a way to get the talisman. I loved all the different side characters that were introduced in this novel, like Coco and a few others. I also enjoyed to getting to know more about Neela’s brother and cousin.

This book was filled with many twists and turns and it ended on a major cliffhanger that changes a lot about plot, but in a good way. I am giving this book 4/5 Stars because I loved the entire thing even though it took me a while to get into it again. I can’t wait to read the rest of this series because I need to find out what happens next!

Happy Reading,
Janelle L. C.

P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and follow me on Twitter (@Jlc0904Janelle), Instagram (@jazzyjan101), and to like The Scribbler Facebook page.

The Reading Quest TBR

Hello everyone!

Just over a week ago I heard about this fun reading challenge called The Reading Quest hosted by Aentee over Reading at Midnight. The artwork for this reading challenge was done by CW at Read, Think, Ponder

#TheReadingQuest is a reading challenge which has a bingo board with the list of reading challenges that need to be completed. However, the catch is that you have to pick one of four characters and follow their “quest” and complete their reading challenges (and the side quests which are the reading challenges in the middle) before moving on to the next character. Here are the characters that can be chosen:

And here is the Quest board:

I have chosen to start as the Bard because I have several books that I want to read this month that fulfill those quests and it just sounds cool to be a bard.

So how The Reading Quest works is that each participant starts off with 10 experience points, 10 health points, and at level 1. Participants get to level up every +50 XP. There are several ways to earn points:

• For every book read to complete a step of the quest – +10XP.
• If character challenges are completed before the end of the challenge (Sept. 10th) – +50XP
• +30XP for any character challenges completed after complete your character’s path.
• For every 20 pages read characters will receive +1 Health point
• Players can also earn up to 20 health points for meaningful social media posts with +1HP for each post.

Here are the challenges I have to complete as the Bard:

• A book that has a movie/tv adaptation
• A fairy tale retelling
• A book cover with striking typography
• A book translated from another language
• A banned book

These are the books that I plan on reading – in order of the above challenges:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 

 

Hunted by Megan Spooner

 

An Unusual School for Girls by Kathleen Baldwin 

 

Heidi by Joanna Spryi 

 

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle 

 

I plan on doing weekly updates during The Reading Quest and which side quests I end up completing.

Let me know if any of you plan on taking part in The Reading Quest and which character quest you chose!

Happy Reading,
Janelle L. C.

P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and follow me on Twitter (@Jlc0904Janelle), Instagram (@jazzyjan101), and to like The Scribbler Facebook page.

What I Read in July

Hello everyone,

Today’s post is my July Wrap-up. I managed to read 42 books, granted most of them were graphic novels and manga. Because I have such a long list of books I am only going to give my star rating and I might have posts up later this month with mini-reviews for the novels that I read this month.

 I’ve also decided to divide this post into six sections, the first section are all the books I read before all the read-a-thons I took part in, the next four will be my wrap-up  for each read-a-thon, and then the sixth part will be an update of how I am doing with my TBR jar challenge so far. Here are the books that I read in July:

1. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vol. 2 by Naoko Takeuchi 

3.75/5 Stars

2. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vol. 3 by Naoko Takeuchi 

3.75/5 Stars

3. Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

4/5 Stars

4. Library Wars: Love and War Vol. 7 by Kiiro Yumi

4/5 Stars

5. Library Wars: Love and War Vol. 8 by Kiiro Yumi

4/5 Stars

6. Library Wars: Love and War Vol. 9 by Kiiro Yumi 

4/5 Stars

7. Lucky in Love by Kasie West

4/5 Stars

8. Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Unvierse by Ryan North

3/5 Stars

9. Lock & Key by Sarah Dessen

4/5 Stars

10. Library Wars Vol. 10 by Kiiro Yumi 

4/5 Stars

11. Library Wars Vol. 11 by Kiiro Yumi 

4/5 Stars

12. Library Wars Vol. 12 by Kiiro Yumi 

4/5 Stars

13. Library Wars Vol. 13 by Kiiro Yumi 

4/5 Stars

14. Library Wars Vol. 14 by Kiiro Yumi

4/5 Stars

15. Library Wars Vol. 15 by Kiiro Yumi

4/5 Stars

16. Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley 

4/5 Stars

17. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World by Bryan Lee O’Malley

4/5 Stars

18. Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O’Malley

4/5 Stars

19. Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together by Bryan Lee O’Malley 

4/5 Stars

20. Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe by Bryan Lee O’Malley 

4/5 Stars

21. Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O’Malley 

4/5 Stars

22. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

3.85/5 Stars

23. Skip Beat Vol. 3 by Yoshiki Nakamura 

3/5 Stars

24. Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard

3/5 Stars

25. One Piece Vol. 6 by Eiichiro Oda 

3/5 Stars

26. Skip Beat Vol. 4 by Yoshiki Nakamura 

3/5 Stars

My Personal Read-a-thon (July 19th) Wrap-up:

I managed to read one whole book and 100 pages of another book during my personal read-a-thon which is pretty good considering I ended up being busier than I expected that day! The book that I completed was:

27. Matilda by Roald Dahl

5/5 Stars

And I read 100 pages of You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith

24 Hour-a-thon:
I decided to take part in this read-a-thon on a whim. I managed to finish two books I had already started before this read-a-thon.
The two books I finished were:

28. You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith

4/5 Stars

29. With You Always by Jody Hedlund

3.75/5 Stars

And the books that I read from start to finish are:

30. Shopping For Time by Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore, and Janelle Bradshaw

4/5 Stars

31. The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl

4/5 Stars

32. The Twits by Roald Dahl

4/5 Stars

33. Esio Trot by Roald Dahl

4/5 Stars

24in48 Read-a-thon:
I didn’t do a TBR for this one because it overlapped with the last few hours of the 24Hour-a-thon. The goal was to read for 24 hours within the span of 48 hours. Since I knew that I would not be able to hit the 24 hour goal, I decided to set a goal for myself of 12 hours which even then was pushing it. I managed to get  8 hours and 55 minutes of reading done that weekend.

34. George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl

4/5 Stars

35. Anne of Windy Poplars by L. M. Montgomery

4/5 Stars

36. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

4/5 Stars

BookTube-a-thon Wrap-Up:
I also took part in the BookTube-a-thon, which started right after the 24in48 Read-a-thon on July 24th and went through until the 30th. If you would like to see my TBR and the reading challenges click here.

 37. Wanderlost by Jen Malone

4/5 Stars

38. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

4/5 Stars

39. The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl

4/5 Stars

40. The Vicar of Nibbleswicke by Roald Dahl

4/5 Stars

41. Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O’Malley

3/5 Stars

And then the last two books I finished in July were:

42. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

4/5 Stars

43. Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

3/5 Stars

My TBR Jar Challenge Update:
At the beginning of the month I shared my TBR jar challenge. This month I managed to read seven books from it! I am hoping that next month I will be able to get almost as many books knocked off my TBR.

Happy Reading,
Janelle L.C.

P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and follow me on Twitter (@Jlc0904Janelle), Instagram (@jazzyjan101), and to like The Scribbler Facebook page.