GoodRead - Tormenting Lila

I blame Conspiracy Girl for my sudden "Oh heck, I might fall into a reading slump" feeling I had the past few days. I really enjoyed Conspiracy Girl (review here if you missed it) and I fancied reading something else by Sarah Alderson (I bought Out of Control on Thursday. Before Black Friday. FOOL!!!) but I didn't want a novel. I wanted something short. And then I remembered that, months ago, I bought this so attacked it while on route to Walker Books for today's blogger event.

Set around 8 months after the events of Losing Lila (which I haven't read. Whoops!), we catch up with Lila and Alex trying to spend some alone time with each other. I mean, is that too much to ask? Well, apparently not as Lila's brother, his hopefully-in-the-near-future girlfriend and two of Lila's closest friends decide to gatecrash. And when they visit an island that might have a serial killer on it, will they get off alright?

I liked it. It was nice to revisit these characters - it's been an age since I read Hunting Lila (review for that is here) and because I haven't read Losing Lila, I wasn't sure if I should due to spoilers. So, if you haven't read this series, there are a few spoilers so you might want to read the series before this.

But the characters are the main reason I enjoyed this short. I liked Lila and Jack's interaction, smiled at Nate and Suki - I forgot how much they made me laugh in Hunting Lila - and as for Alex... Sarah Alderson knows how to write swoon-worthy leads.

What interested me with this short is this is a gateway into another novel Sarah had written (and one I haven't read!) - The Sound. So, The Sound and Lila are set in the same world (like Out of Control and Conspiracy Girl) and yet, these two are so different. Lila is quite paranormal while we have a serial killer thriller in The Sound.

With rumours that Sarah might be writing a third book for Lila (are you, Sarah?), I shall be intrigued to see where she takes the characters... But first, I need to get back up to speed with her other books!

GoodRead - Cold Wind

I started this yesterday and finished is on the way to Walker Books's Bookish Brunch (not read my post of that yet? Go here, my friends). I wasn't ready to get into a novel is my excuse. I wanted to read something to stop me falling into a reading slump...

This story starts in a bar. A woman walks in one wintery night. She's searching for something... or someone...

Now, I'm not 100% certain how I feel about it. I liked it, but it didn't bowl me over. I think, while I liked the style of the story - fairytale but not at the same time - I got confused over it. And while one of the things was explained, I felt that there was a few things that weren't tied up or explained very well...

Maybe I'm being picky. Like I said, I was reading something to help me not fall into a reading slump and while this is ok for something to past the time, it just wasn't enough for me...

GoodRead - Warm Up

Ok, I admit it. I still haven't read Vicious. I know, I know. Am a bad person. It sounds like The Avengers but if they were evil. Which is perfect for me.

But after reading Conspiracy Girl (review here) and failing to fall in my love with one of my Xmas reads within the first two chapters (not in the right mindset), I felt a pull to Warm Up, a prequel (of sorts) to Vicious and I thought "Why not?"

It has been 297 days since David died. And came back. He may have survived that avalanche but the fall out is worse. He's trapped himself in his house, too scared to leave due to the events after he woke up and found that he's now different from before. He has a new gift - and this gift scares him. But it's not the gift he should be scared of...

Ok, am going to say it. I nearly read this in one sitting. It is SO short and yet SO addictive! I can not WAIT to read Vicious. I know this isn't much of a review, but I think if you are curious over Vicious, you might want to read this as it gives the tiniest of tastes of what this story is about.

Like I said, this is a very short story and I wished it was a tad longer. I wanted to spend more time with Daniel - even though I felt like I knew enough about him. I just wanted more.

But yes, I can't wait to find time to read Vicious now! Maybe over Christmas if I fancy something to hide me from my Christmas TBR pile...

Walker Books Bookish Brunch

I was VERY kindly invited to Walker Books' Bookish Brunch. So, dealing with a train journey, the London underground and downing my first drink that contain caffeine of the day (just to scare everyone at Walker with my sudden hyperness! I had an mental image of this...)

You think book publishers would be too scared/frightened to invite me to these type of events...

But after meeting so many lovely other bloggers and vloggers (too many to list but I met Julianne [aka the Queen of Hats], Lucy from Queen of Contemporary and Sarah from SCJammycustard [or Cluminessisacurse - what is your right name?] for the first time and chatted to those who I haven't seen in what feels like FOREVER! I miss meeting up with you guys!), Walker sheperded us into a room (that had tea! TEA! Walker are my kind of people! [yes, that was my first tea of the day! On weekends, am usually on my third by then!]) and show us some exciting reads for next year. Well, January to June/July with one expectation. 

Ok, confession. I lost my notes on half of the books - I had them then I got my second cup of tea when we had a break and they went walkies. So, you will have to bear with me. And because there are FAR TOO MANY BOOKS, am going to pick some that I think you MUST check out and research! 

That ok? Ok. Let's get cracking! 

The first two is Jandy Nelson's The Sky is Everywhere and I'll Give You The Sun. Ok, I know The Sky is Everywhere has been out for AGES, but there is a cover redesign (out in Feb, I do believe) which fits perfectly with I'll Give You The Sun. Already huge with US vloggers/bloggers, I'll Give You The Sun looks like the book fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell might love. With themes of love (in all forms [straight, gay, family, friends, lovers, etc), the idea of art and grief, the leads being twins (so dual narrative and two very different timelines), this seems to be the one to watch. 

(and if I have my way, the books I shall be reading within the next few weeks... might have to give up my Christmas TBR pile but WHO CARES?!)

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13b by Teresa Toten has the feel of the maybe-cancelled US show The Red Band Society. With an OCD support group at its heart, our hero falls in love. But how can he tell the girl he's falling off when his OCD is standing in the way? This sounds quirky, interesting and give the love story a different edge.

Lottery Boy by Michael Byrne follows a 12 year old runaway and his dog on the streets of London. One day, he finds a winning lottery ticket and he has 5 days to claim it. But he's 12 and you must be 16 to buy a ticket. Soon, the wrong people hear about the ticket and he's on the run. It has, according to the publisher, a Slumdog Millionaire feel to it and, after chatting to the author (who is very nice and I don't think I scared him that much while we spoke all things book), and very intrigued on how this book plays out. Plus, if I remember right, this has been optioned so we might see this in TV/film form... 

Already published in the US, Evil Librarian is for those of us who were fans of the silliness yet creepiness of Point Horror and Goosebumps. A new librarian has come to school and... well... he's evil. I think the title says it all. Imagine Buffy meets Glee and you have an idea... 

Remix by Non Pratt follows best friends who go to a music festival. So, 2 days, two best mates, one music festival... what could possibly go wrong? Non spoke at the event and she explained what inspired this book: two questions. The first: why aren't there more books about ex-boyfriends? The second: why isn't there more books about best friends? If you're a fan of her debut novel, Trouble, you're in safe hands. But, music festivals with friends and humour - this sounds like a yummy read! I might have upload a random 6 seconds of her talking on Vine... Sorry Non. 

If you don't know my thoughts/reactions over The Name of the Blade trilogy by Zoe Marriott, please go here! But this book is A MUST for me! Urban fantasy, Japanese mythology, so much diversity & LGBT that you begin to wonder why other books do this, this is going to be wonderful and heartbreaking for me. 

The only book that isn't being published in the January to June time period is Patrick Ness's The Rest of Us Just Live Here. As someone who is only just getting into his writing (though I have followed him on twitter for what feels like ages. HE'S FUNNY AS HECK!), am excited/scared to read this once. Set in a world similar to ours - expect it's like being inside a YA novel, we are hit by the question: what if your not the Chosen One? How do you carry on with your life in this world when your school gets blown up - again. What if you don't get the girl - because the Chosen One has her? What if...

And, to make things more scary for me, Walker were very kind and gave me A Monster Calls and The Knife of Never Letting Go. One thinks I need to get the tissues at the ready when I read these three beasts *gives Walker Books and Patrick Ness death glare in advance of my tears*... 

But this event was wonderful! The books I have listed (and the others I haven't) sound really good and should excite most of you guys. I must thank Walker again for inviting me (and sorry if I freaked anyone out). Oh, and thank you to Jim who gave me a spare copy of Lockwood and Co: The Screaming Staircase (yes, know that's not Walker, but I had to thank him and I can't remember if I did in person or not...) 

PS - Oh, just remembered. After the presentation and we all had a talk over the books and a catch-up, Walker had a board up, asking the question "What Would You Give Up For The Sun?" and we all had a go. It's a very hard question to ask and most of us aren't very arty and I tried really hard to draw something cool and nice. 

But compare it to this, I don't know why I bothered... 

GoodRead - Conspiracy Girl

I know this comes out in February. I know - but as soon as I saw I was approved on NetGalley, I knew I had to read it at once. Rare for me to actually read something WAY before publication date. But it's been AGES since I read Sarah Alderson and I fancied reading something that could leave me on the edge of my seat.

Everyone knows about the Cooper Killings, and the lone survivor was a fifteen year old Nic Preston. Now eighteen and emotionally scarred by the deaths of her mother and stepsister (and the horrors of the media and trial), Nic is trying to rebuild her life. But when someone breaks into her apartment, it looks like history is repeating itself...

So when Finn Carter comes on the scene as her protector, Nic can't help but be furious. Not only is Finn a computer hacker, rule breaker and very much a heart breaker, he's the reason the murderers walked free. But, as much as she hates to admit it, Finn's her best chance of staying alive. 

But who wants her dead? And, more importantly, why? 

It's been a while since I read a Sarah Alderson book (though I have most of her works on my kindle. Expect Out of Control [which I must get soon] and The Sound [which I have seemed to misplaced]), but I forgot how easy it was to read her writing and how, within a few chapters, you become addicted to the story and how breathless you can be at times. 

If you have read Out of Control, you might notice tiny little Easter eggs. Another thing I liked - even though I haven't read Out of Control yet. 

The leads - Nic and Finn - I liked them. Both of them were strong characters but flawed. It was interesting to see how their relationship evolved over the span of the book (which was a few days in real time - yes, the book moves quickly). 

There are some flaws. My main fault is NetGalley's fault (which am not going to go into - what would be the point?). But there are two tiny points - the word flying was used quite a bit in this book. Maybe it was because of the main unspoken fault that I was aware of it but once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it. 

The second is a slight worry that some of you guys who read thrillers will read this and go "It's a bit paint-by-numbers". 

But I had a great time with this book. I am planning to read more of Sarah's books in future, but if you fancy an addictive read, this might a book you should investigate... Or, if anyone in TV land fancies turning this into a drama for BBC Three or E4, you should! I would watch it! 

SMILE - Human Beings Make Life So Interesting...

I have no idea who turned this scene for Sky One's The Hogfather (based on the Terry Pratchett novel of the same name) into gifs. No idea - but I love Death! So, thank you Terry Pratchett, Sky One and everyone else in connection with this! 

SMILE - Are You Saying...

My thanks goes to whoever made these gifs, taken from the Sky One adaption of Terry Pratchett's The Hogfather. 

SMILE - The End is Nigh

A few months back, I wrote a small blog post about my SMILE thread and asking what I should do with it because the fun was going out of writing them. The fun was going out of this blog, if truth be told. But with SMILE, I was wondering over its future.

As you are probably aware, I try and do SMILE posts every Monday for the past few years (and I have a SMILE board on Pinterest), but I was wondering if I should change it. Give my blog a bit of a facelift.

And I was considering quitting SMILE altogether. I didn't want to keep doing SMILE post if I was losing interest in it and, if I was losing interest, then you guys must be too! I mean, I didn't want SMILE to become this:

But then someone said "Just do it on impulse" and I liked this idea. I liked this idea a lot. So, that is what I am going to do in the New Year. The SMILE post will be more impulsive. They will come and go as they please, and I hope that we - you and I - will enjoy the surprise of it all!

But the question is: where does SMILE go from here?

Well... It's going to have a break. I've decided that SMILE will be resting throughout the month of December, which means next week's SMILE will be the last of 2014.

I know. It's a bit short notice. I know. But I didn't realise that this is what I needed to do till I started writing this post.

So yeah, next week is the last SMILE of the year. I hope that's ok.

I want this blog to be fun. Not just for you guys, but for me.

So, to you all who liked SMILE, please go to the Pinterest board at http://www.pinterest.com/pewterwolf/smile/ or keep your eyes peeled on the blog. You never know when the next SMILE post will appear in the New Year.

And remember...

GoodRead - A Slip Of The Keyboard

Confession time. I have never read a Terry Pratchett - well, I think I might have read Wyrd Sisters but don't quote me on that. But Terry Pratchett is always been one of those authors that has so much buzz around them, that's a bit overwhelming. It's the same with Jane Austin. There is so much respect and love that if I dare either of them and went "They were ok", I might have been given death glares...

So when the lovely Felicity from Midas PR asked if there was any audiobooks coming out in the past few months that I fancied reviewing, I saw this collection of non-fiction essays from Mr Pratchett and mentioned that these would be an interesting listen as this would not only introduces me with Terry's writing but also, introduces me to non-fiction - a genre I'm not that well read in. 

A Slip of the Keyboard is a collection of non-fiction essays spend through Terry's life via three sections. Talking about his life as a writer, a look into his childhood, Discworld and then his thoughts of his Alzheimer's Disease and his opinions of assisted dying. 

Now, seeing as non-fiction isn't my comfort zone, I went into this a bit uncertain on if I would enjoy this. And for the most part, I did. I liked hearing Terry's ideas, thoughts and his musings about life, writing, Discworld (a series I really need to investigate) and on assisted dying. 

Now, assisted dying and Terry's battle with Alzheimer's were subjects I thought I would find taxing and upset to listen, but instead, I find them very interesting to hear his thoughts and made me, at several points, go "He does have a point here, but I'm not totally convinced on his reasoning on that point."

I do have problems with this collection (and the audiobook). The first was how the audiobook was set up. There were times I got confused on what essay or article I was listening to as the gaps between when one ended and another began were quite short at times and, there was a few times I think two essays merged into one in my brain and I didn't realise this till halfway through the second essay. 

My second is, at times, it did feel a bit repetitive. You can tell this is a collection spanning years as some jokes, phrases and ideas were repeated and with this collection, two essays will have the same joke and the essays would be following each other. But, with the nature of this book, I understand this would happen from time to time. 

While this isn't exactly something I would rush out to read, I am glad I have had the chance to listen to it. I do have plans to read more of Mr Pratchett (Stevie from SableCaught made me buy Mort and I have plans to read that soon) and I hope it makes me think about the world around me a little more. But I think this is very much for the fans who will devour anything Terry writes... 

SMILE - Madonna's At Your Grandma's Front Door Again...

Sorry, I saw this on Twitter a few days ago and I couldn't stop laughing! My thanks goes to the Twitter of Michael Spicer (can't remember who retweeted this so I saw it, but thanks whoever you are!) 

GoodRead - The Bane Chronicles

I was very lucky and very honored when Sean from Walker Books asked if I wanted to review The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson. I said yes (because I LOVE Magnus and am a huge shipper of Malec when I was read the first 3 books in the Mortal Instruments series [or trilogy as it was back then!] and I really liked seeing him in Infernal Devices). But, something very unexpected happened. Because I was honoured with this, I had to sign an embargo. I HAVE NEVER HAD TO SIGN AN EMBARGO BEFORE! VERY EXCITING!!! 

Yes, I am very weird. The only other time I had an embargo was Clockwork Prince and, even then, I never had to sign anything. So this was new and exciting territory. I felt like some book spy! 

I was going to try and read this for review of the Tuesday just gone (its publication date in both the UK and the US), but I kinda failed on the reading front so... here it is. 

The Bane Chronicles is a collection of short novellas the follow the life of Magnus Bane in year order (barring the last few). From the depths of Peru to Victorian London then modern day New York, we see Magnus getting more and more involved in the lives of Shadowhunters. Whether he wants to or not. 

Now, I have read three novellas when they were published in eBook form (What Really Happened in Peru, The Runaway Queen and The Course of True Love) and I admit, there was mixed reactions from me. So, knowing my reactions to them, I went into these stories with some uncertain. But all I knew was that I wanted to reread What Really Happened in Peru. Surely, it wasn't as bad as I remembered it to me. 

And it wasn't. Much to my surprise, I found What Really Happened in Peru quite funny. I'm still not thrilled over how the story ended (for the reasons I stated in my review) but because I was aware of how it ended, I braced myself for it. Forewarned is forearmed and all that. 

Now, I do want to write my thoughts and feelings over every short so am going to pick a few at random and do a quick thoughts/reactions. 

Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale - I have no idea why I enjoyed this short. I just do. It was fun and yet, at the same time, It gave a tiny insight to the events that lead to Infernal Devices but it wasn't important to the series. And a new character that I instantly liked! 

The Midnight Heir - Ok, because I am a huge Infernal Devices fan, I am quite excited/intrigued over the whole The Last Hours trilogy that will look into the children of the Infernal Devices characters. I was reading it, looking for clues and hunts. But the main character - the child of [CENSORED] and [CENSORED] - I did not warm to him. But I got why he was the way he was but still... really? 

I was going to talk about some of the other stories (believe me, I could - let's not get me started on What To Buy the Shadowhunter Who Has Everything (And Who You're Not Officially Dating Anyway), shall we?) but let me talk about the reason why the book was embargo. This collection of short stories has one short story that had never been published and we had illustartions by Cassandra Jean (some of you may know Cassandra Jean's drawings from the tarot designs that Cassandra Clare put on her tumblr or from the Beautiful Creatures: The Manga). 

Now, I love the illustrations and, before I even started reading the book, I flicked through the pages for the illustrations to see what she drew.

And this mysterious story that hasn't been seen before this publication - The Voicemail of Magnus Bane. Now, before I go on, my advice is only read this story AFTER you read City of Lost Souls, as this takes place due to the event that happened at the end of that book. If you haven't read City of Lost Souls, you would be spoiled. I haven't read CoLS but I know the event in question (I went to an event after CoLS was published and Cassandra told us why she wrote it. I swear, I have never heard a group of readers gasp that loudly before!). Bu, I read this three times and out of the colection, this was a fave. It was heartbreaking yet funny. It felt like something that would be inside the book. It made me want to read the latter three books in the Mortal Instruments series. 

And I plan to. Soon. But am in no rush. Not yet. 

But this book. Ok, this is a mix bag - some stories are good and some aren't up to par. But this is a book for the fans (or, if you're a cynic [which I can be at times], another way to milk that cash cow dry!) but I would advice caution if you are a fan as this is in hardback and, I know some of you guys want your books to match. But yes, this is for fans but read if you have read all three Infernal Devices and the first 5 Mortal Instruments books to get the most enjoyment. 

SMILE - Your Aren't A Disappointment

My thanks goes to Hannah on Twitter (@AitchLove) for this pic. I love it and I laughed for a good minute when I saw this!

GoodRead - This Night So Dark

After I finished This Shattered World that the lovely Luna from Luna's Little Library lent me (she got a copy from BEA - my review of that is here), I wasn't ready to leave this world. Even though I have LOADS of books to read - one book I really should have finished sometime this week but I know I'm not going to make my mental deadline and I have a second that I need to read by 3rd December - I wanted to stay in this world for a tad longer.

I knew about this eNovella for a while, but it took a while for me to hunt it down and get a copy of it. This is free and if you live in the UK and you want to read this eNovella within These Broken Stars world, you can go here. Anywhere else in the world can go here.

Tarver has started to have nightmares. Nightmares about something that happened six months prior to the horror that was the Icarus crash. Six months prior where Tarver has to rescue a group of civilians from a group of brutal mercenaries. But is what happened then connected to what happened to both him and Lilac...

I finished this several days ago and, I did like this. It was a fast read (though I did have to spread it over several days - real life sucks sometimes!) and it was a nice titbit for readers. We get more Tarver and Lilac and we see them after the events of These Broken Stars. But it also gives us a insight to Tarver's history and why he was on the Icarus. 

And it does a good thing by making the plot thicken over the mysterious LaRoux Industries.

But, I did have some issues. I always do so why did I expect not to have problems is anyone's guess.

While it was nice to read this, I was expecting more. I'm not what more I wanted but I was expecting more details, more hints and clues and more story (with this download, 47% is This Night So Dark and the rest is sample chapters of These Broken Stars and This Shattered World). Also, I expected to see a crossover where we meet Jubilee from This Shattered World and see how she and Tarver know and interact with each other. But the only clue for This Shattered World is Tarver mentioning he was based on Avon a month or two ago.

While this isn't important to the series in my opinion (so if you miss it or decide not to read it but read This Shattered World), I think fans will enjoy this. And if you're curious over this series, this is free and there is sample chapters of These Broken Stars and This Shattered World, I would say go to it.

GoodRead - This Shattered World

I must thank Luna from Luna's Little Library. Thank you Luna! Luna got this at BEA earlier in the year and I kept going on about wanting to read it (I went mad over the first book in the trilogy, These Broken Stars [review to that is here!]. And, very kindly, Luna offered to let me borrow her BEA copy as we were going to meet at the Zoe Marriott/Walker Books event (and she "forced" me to buy more books in a charity shop. Will read them soonish. Hopefully).

So, I got this and I spedread this and, yes, even though this isn't out till 23rd December, am going to write my review now and maybe - MAYBE - review it on the Bookish Brits YouTube Channel  nearer the publication date. Maybe.

In this, the second book in the Starbound trilogy, a war is raging on the planet of Avon. Captain Jubilee (Lee for short) Chase has been sent to he planet to crush the terraformed planet's rebels. Flynn is one of these rebels, trying to end the war peacefully.

The two were never meant to meet. But a chance meeting make Flynn taking Lee has a hostage. As his fellow rebels plan to execute Lee, Flynn makes another decision, changing them both. Soon, they find themselves working together to figure out a way to end this senseless war...

And, from a distance, LaRoux Industries is watching...

Ok, as you are aware, I LOVED These Broken Stars so I knew from the word go that it was going to be hard for this book to live up to my reaction, and with this book focusing on new characters rather than Tarver and Lilac, it was going to be a very interesting.

It was going to be, I decided, like Anna and the French Kiss trilogy by Stephanie Perkins. But in space.

And I really liked it. I enjoyed myself while I galloped through the pages. Yes, it didn't live up to my love to These Broken Stars, but it is a very worthy sequel.

First thing I really enjoyed was how different yet similar this book was to These Broken Stars. We have two strong and interesting characters. I think you guys are going to love reading about Jubilee (Why, authors? Why use that name? Every time I read it, I kept thinking of Jubilee from the X-Men?!). You'll like Flynn too, but this was really Jubilee's book.

And how this book linked with These Broken Stars. I don't want to spoil anything but, if you loved These Broken Stars, you'll squeal when you see who/what pops up...

Also, the last 100 or so pages - Meagan and Amie know how to make those last few pages count. They will have you on the edge of your seat and breathless - I remember finishing these pages and going to Twitter to some bookish pals and going "PLEASE TELL ME YOU READ THIS?!"

(Again, why doesn't this series not have a UK publisher? Why?!)

I am going to admit there are little things that bothered me. There are not big deal breakers but I noticed them and, once you notice something...

The one real thing that bothered me was only really used in the first 50 or so pages when we are told several times that Jubilee is Chinese descent and people of Avon have hints of Irish. Compared to some books where they drum this details into the reader's head with a fork-lift truck, this was more gentle. But I spotted it and was annoyed over it... I blame Zoe Marriott (not read her. You should!

I think my issues come down to the fact that with These Broken Stars, I listened via audiobook so I crept under the character's skins. But with This Shattered World, I borrowed someone's book (I'm weird over borrowing books from people) and I devoured the book within 8 days. That is fast for me, but I must have liked and enjoyed myself as I usually take two weeks to read one book. But I think if I listened to the audiobook, my reaction might have been different.

Maybe I should get the audiobook when it's released and do a reread...

But fans of this series will really enjoy this book and I can't wait to get my hands of the third and final book in the trilogy, which should be out in December 2015 (SO FAR AWAY!). But, there is a eNovella that ties These Broken Stars and This Shattered World together - This Night So Dark - and I plan to be reading that VERY SOON (you can read it here...).

SMILE - You Alone Are Enough

Unlike the past two SMILEs, I didn't see this while on holiday in May, but I saw this on Pinterest so THANK YOU PINTEREST (again)

So, if you are on Pinterest and you want to follow me, go to http://www.pinterest.com/pewterwolf/ and click on the boards you want to follow (whether that be one/two or all of them!)

How Should I Review?

It's been a scary time for book bloggers and vloggers lately. We read in horror the article about an author stalking (there is no other word for it) a book blogger because they gave said author's book a negative review and seeing people's reactions to this (have you not read the comments and some authors in favor of what this author did?). And then, yesterday, another author said that there "is too much positivity in the book world". 

So, in the past few weeks, book bloggers and vloggers have been told that writing bad reviews is bad, and yet so is writing good reviews. Conflicting messages been sent here. Which is it? 

I know this is an extreme reactions and very rare. In all my time in blogging, I have never had someone attack me (in real life or online) and, while I have written a review or two where my reaction to the book/novella was negative, I review books that I enjoy reading, and the idea that I give books positive reviews because the publisher has sent me a copy of the book for review is wrong. 

And the idea that all book bloggers/vloggers do this is just as bad. 

For example, I do get books and eBooks send to me by publishers and I am hugely grateful. In the past, I would try my hardest to read them all and write my reactions - good or bad. Some of the books I was sent I never read (due to many reasons) or I started but I never finished because I dislike/hated the book. But I chose not to review these (though if I did talk about them in two posts, An Open Letter about Delirium and When Is It Time To Stop?) as I felt it wouldn't feel right to review a book/eBook that I only read 30% of. How is a review of a book I only read 30% of fair? 

At the time I entered the world of book blogging, I was unemployed and reading books then chatting about my love for reading online saved me for getting upset over the situation I was in. Reading was a hobby I enjoyed so I jumped to that. I now have a job and I still enjoy chatting about books. Reading is still a hobby I enjoy. 

Reading is a hobby and I want to get enjoyment out of it. So, is it weird that I read books that I feel I will enjoy? I do go out of my comfort zone with books - sometimes, I am surprised how much I like and enjoy it. Other times, I'm not thrilled over the book in questions and, on those rare occasions, I start a book I dislike/am not "clicking" with so I stop reading them. 

Does that make me a bad blogger? Someone who is doing this in their spare time so wants to read books he could/would/might enjoy? 

And where does that leave this blog? Honestly, the same as it was a few days ago. I'm still going to read books that I hope I will like/love. I'm still going to try and write reviews of my opinions on said books and hoping you guys understand that this is MY opinion. I know bloggers/vloggers who have read and loved a book (for example, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green) whereas I wasn't that impressed. And there have been times I have read and thoroughly enjoyed/loved a book and other bloggers/vloggers have disliked (for example, Harry Potter). 

So, dear readers, before I leave you, I want to leave you with two points, if that's ok. 

1. The reviews that I write/vlog are MY OPINIONS. Just because I say I love a book doesn't mean you will. The same with if I said I loathed a book. Everyone is unique and so is everyone's opinion. So please be respectful and kind. 

2. Life is too short to read crap books.