T5W: Independent Ladies

T5W is a weekly meme created by Lainey from gingerreadslainey, now hosted by Sam from ThoughtsOnTomes. You can check out the goodreads group to learn more.

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February 13: Independent Ladies
–Favorite leading ladies who aren’t distracted from getting shit done by their love interest (they can still have a romance subplot – this is going to be subjective based on what you think would be ~too much~).

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I was absolutely living for this topic at first, and then it got overwhelming I’d like to preface this one by saying that it’s been a while since I’ve read some of these, so maybe they were more distracted than I remember.

In no particular order…

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Rose from Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead– Yes, there’s romance. What I remember (I could be remembering wrong, because it has been a while) is Rose fighting her feelings, and prioritizing her friendship with and duty to Lissa above everything else.

Tana from The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black– This girl, oh wow. It’s been over 4 years since I read this, and I still think about it, and Tana, all the time. I really want to re-read it at some point, to see if I still like it as much as I did the first time around. Tana saved not only herself, but also some other characters, and she was a girl on a mission from beginning to end.

Alexia Tarabotti from The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger– Alexia is one of my favorite characters ever, and there’s definitely romance. But Alexia, even when she might be motivated partially by love, does what needs to be done.

Kady from Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff– I freaking love Kady. A lot of what she does is kind of motivated by the guy she cares about, but she doesn’t let her feelings get in the way of getting shit done.

Minerva McGonagall from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling– The ultimate badass, independent lady ❤ I related a lot to Hermione and Luna, growing up, but I wanted to be Minerva McGonagall. I honestly do not have words for how much I love her.

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I know I’m going to post this, check out other lists, and immediately kick myself for forgetting [insert characters here], but oh well.

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T5W: Nostalgic Ships

T5W is a weekly meme created by Lainey from gingerreadslainey, now hosted by Sam from ThoughtsOnTomes. You can check out the goodreads group to learn more.

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February 6: Nostalgic Ships
— Discuss the first fictional couples you ever got butterflies over, or couples you used to be really into when you were younger.  

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This one was ridiculously hard for me because I’ve consumed a lot of media over the course of my life, and I was never super invested in many relationships. Even now, I don’t have strong feelings about most pairings, canon or otherwise

So, I’m not sticking to just books for this one because most of the book-pairings I’ve cared about are from after I was at least in my early 20s.

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Willow and Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer– Oh my gosh, the feelings. I’m not a shipper, I rarely care too much about romantic relationships in fiction, but I was so into this one. I loved both of them so much and I thought they were great.

Hermione and Victor from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire— I’m honestly totally fine with how the pairings in this series turned out and have no complaints (I even like them, which is apparently an unpopular opinion). But, I was also kind of into Hermione and Krum. I thought they had the potential to be a super cute couple.

Lena and Kostos from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants— This one, I remember liking when I was a teenager. I haven’t re-read these books in years, so I might hate Kostas now, but I liked him back then. (I also remember rooting for Tibby and Brian, though.)

Topanga and Cory from Boy Meets World– This is my original ship, I think. I loved them and I still think about this show constantly.

Mulder and Scully from The X-Files– Ok, I might have been hoping for these two to get together as long as I was cheering for Cory and Topanga. But, I was more “Eh, whatever is fine,” about them than I was about Cory and Topanga.

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What are some of your nostalgic ships?

T5W: Retellings I Want to Read

T5W is a weekly meme created by Lainey from gingerreadslainey, now hosted by Sam from ThoughtsOnTomes. You can check out the goodreads group to learn more.

This week is a freebie, and I hate those haha. I always feel so overwhelmed by the task of coming up with a topic, and it makes me feel relief that I’m not the one in charge of coming up with topics for something like T5W or T10T 😛

However, I instantly thought of a topic for this one, because I was planning to write a post about this anyway. If I’d done it independently, I probably would have added a few more books, but my list was short enough to be able to cut it down to just five and do it for T5W.

In no particular order, as usual…

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Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige– Guys… I’ve owned this book since shortly after it came out, and I own the second book, and some of the stories…and I still haven’t read it -_- It’s almost at the very top of my TBR for this year, though, so… Hopefully I’ll get to it very soon.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik– I still haven’t read Uprooted (I know! and it’s super high on my TBR, I swear!), but I’m honestly more excited about this one, because I love Rumplestiltskin. It’s always been one of my favorite stories, and I’m super into the idea of a retelling.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi– I can not wait to read this oh my gosh. I’m not actually a huge P&P fan, but I did enjoy it when I read it, and I want to re-read it and see how I feel about it now. I haven’t actually heard much about this one, but I know it instantly caught my attention last year, so I’m hoping I like it.

Circe by Madeline Miller– This one was definitely one of my most-anticipated last year, and I almost bought the hardcover last time I was at a bookstore. I resisted, though, because adult hardcovers are hella expensive, and I was at the store for something specific. But, I snagged the Kindle edition on sale around the holidays, so I’m really hoping to get to this one soon.

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig– This one doesn’t come out until August, but omg I am screaming already! Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling! I am so excited, and I’m crossing my fingers and honestly praying that I get an ARC because I need this in my life, like, yesterday. This one sounds so good, with a kind of creepy, maybe gothic vibe, and I’m so here for it.

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What are some of your favorite retellings?

Are there any you haven’t read, but really want to?

T5W: Books at the Top of My TBR

T5W is a weekly meme created by Lainey from gingerreadslainey, now hosted by Sam from ThoughtsOnTomes. You can check out the goodreads group to learn more.

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January 23rd: Top of Your TBR  

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I had to really think about this one, because I don’t really do TBRs (I feel like a broken record because of how often I say that 😛 ), and I’m a mood reader. Plus, yesterday’s T10T topic had a few books I would normally put on a list like this one, and I’m trying not to repeat stuff too much.

In no particular order, as usual…

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Saga vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples– I bought this one last year, I think, but I still haven’t read it. I think I might pick it up really soon, though, because I’m anxious to get back into this series.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire– I own this one and the next book, and yet… It’s not like I can blame the size of the book, because this is a novella series of companion novels. And, making it even worse, this one focuses a lot on my favorite character from Every Heart a Doorway. I need to read this, like, a year ago

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco– So! Excited! I’m waiting (probably, at least) until closer to the release of Shadow Glass, so I can binge my way through this series if I want to.

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan– I got an e-ARC from Net Galley, and I’m really looking forward to this one. I want to say I was kind of aware of this being in the works, because of tumblr? But I might be remembering wrong. This one comes out in April, so I’m probably going to read it next month.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber– This book plummeted to the bottom of my TBR because of less-than-amazing reviews. I needed some time to distance myself from the hype, and the comparisons (to The Night Circus, one of my favorite books ever) that were made in the marketing of this one, so I could adjust my expectations. Now, I think I’m ready, and the timing is perfect because the last book (Finale) comes out in May.

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What are some books at the top of your TBR?

T5W: Most Disappointing Reads of 2018

T5W is a weekly meme created by Lainey from gingerreadslainey, now hosted by Sam from ThoughtsOnTomes. You can check out the goodreads group to learn more.

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January 16th: Most Disappointing Reads of 2018
–These are books you read in 2018, not only ones released in 2018. 

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Oh my gosh, I honestly had a hard time narrowing this down to just 5 I think I could have made this a top 10, actually. But, finally, I decided on 5.

In no particular order, as usual…

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Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel– Yikes. I actually only remember snippets from this one, and otherwise, just my constant loathing. I really did not enjoy this one, and I was so mad about that because I’ve always heard that it’s amazing. It is possible that it was so terrible because of the translation, so I gave it 2/5 stars (rounded up from 1.5).

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins– This book was so hyped, and I went into it without any expectations really, and I hated it. I saw the ending coming from early on (like, the first 20 pages at least), and I hated the characters and the writing, and I think I sprained my eyes from rolling them constantly. I almost DNF this one, but thought for a while that it might get better. I was wrong. I gave it 1.5/5 stars (I think 2 on goodreads, but I’m changing it to 1.)

Kill Creek by Scott Thomas– I am so tired of thinking about this book and talking about it, so I’m just going to leave the link for my review and say that I gave it 2/5 stars for potential.

Hocus Pocus & the All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha– This one is up there with Cursed Child for books I wish just didn’t exist at all. The novelization of Hocus Pocus (the first part of the book) was okay, but the second part… Ugh. I also reviewed this one, and gave it 2/5 stars for nostalgia (exclusively for the first part).

The Diviners by Libba Bray– Hold your fire! Let me explain! I went into this with extremely high expectectations because I loved the Gemma Doyle trilogy, and this book has been sooo highly praised for years. It just didn’t deliver for me I gave it 3/5 stars, and I might read the next book, but this one just made me sad because I didn’t love it as much as everyone else seems to.

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What were some of your disappointing reads of 2018?