The Reading Quest Halfway Wrap-up!

Hello everyone!

I have been dismal with posting, but I have a good reason! It’s because I’ve practically been reading for most of my time for the last two weeks. 

ICYMI - The Reading Quest is a video-game style reading challenge which is the brainchild of Aentee, with 25 bingo spaces, four main ‘quests’, and nine ‘side quests’ everyone who I’ve seen posting about it is burning through their TBR pile, and I am too!

In numbers, over the last two weeks I’ve read eight books, over three thousand, three hundred pages, questioned myself numerous times, and once (twice) almost threw a book across the room. 

I’ve also changed the books I planned to read a few times, for a few different reasons. 

I started with the Knight’s quest, and I’m pretty happy overall with the books that I read for that (spoiler alert, I finished it a few days ago) except for The Mime Order’, but more on that in a second.

I started off with ‘Green Rider’ for the first book in a series, and I really, really enjoyed it! It was such a compelling, interesting fantasy read and I really wish more people had read it because I need to talk about this book!

I read ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ the book with a movie/TV adaption, because the trailer for the movie for it looks amazing. For the Book with a Weapon on the Cover book, I read ‘Gap Year in Ghost Town’ which is a new Aussie YA release and it was nerdy, funny, and very ghosty, complete with Buffy style slashing and Ghostbuster style ghost catching (but don’t tell anyone I said that).

I also did one of the side quests, the Free Space tile, because I really, really wanted to read ‘No Limits’ which is another Aussie YA release that I absolutely adored, and I’m halfway through writing a book talk post on that which will be up soon (I hope). 

Then there was ‘The Mime Order’. I am glad I read it, but I spent the majority of that book because it mostly felt like I was being lectured at, there wasn’t much emotion, and really the highlight for me was the Scrimmage. Some of my favourite scenes in books are fight scenes like the Scrimmage and dance scenes (I loved the one in ‘Truthwitch’). I felt pretty much the same about ‘Ice Study’ except that the tense flipped around a bit and some of the language felt like it was trying too hard to appeal to a young audience and really didn’t fit in that world.

But I thoroughly ‘First Rider’s Call’ for the Book with a Verb in the Title, it had everything I enjoyed about ‘Green Rider’ and explored more the world and the magic and the history of that world and please someone read these books because they’re a lot of fun and also really complex at the same time. 

I decided to go with the Mage Quest next, partially because my sister wanted someone to talk to about ‘Roar’ (Book with Magic) - which I thought had a fantastic magic system, but some things *cough*the absolute possessiveness of both potential love interests*cough* grated on me a bit.

I’m currently reading ‘The Golem and the Djinni’ because it’s something I’ve wanted to read for a while and it’s also one of the only physical books I brought with me on holiday (I’m in Hobart for the week), but it's also very likely that I'll start reading 'Daughter of the Burning City' in the next day or two if I want something a little different.

The books I’ve changed are below:

'Dragonfly in Amber' is now 'The Book Thief' (Grind)

'Geek Girls' is now 'No Limits' (Free Space)

'Ahsoka' is now Gap Year in 'Ghost Town' (Weapon on the Cover)

'A Conjuring of Light' is now 'First Rider’s Call' (Verb in the Title)

'Dividing Eden is now Daughter of the Burning City' (Buddy Read)

'Starflight' is now 'Laurinda' (One Word Title)

And as of this moment, my stats are:

90 Experience Points for 8 books (and the starting points)

331 Health Points, for 3310 pages read

My Quest Board is starting to look a little full, and while I realise that I might not get through all the challenges like I'd hoped, I've definitely read a whole heap of amazing books

I think I’ll leave it at that - I’ve got bookshops to visit down here in Hobart.

Until next time, Meg.

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This or That Tag!

So… I had three posts I was supposed during the week and I didn’t get to write them because I’ve worked so much more than usual and for several other reasons (one being a very shenanigan filled scavenger hunt called GISHWHES), but I’m back! And I have posts lined up for the next week that I’ll actually post (I promise).

I figured I’ll do a few tag posts and save the reviews and stuff for when I really work out my blogging style and whether I’ll actually make a book tube channel or not, so today I’m doing the ‘This or That Book Tag’! This tag was created by Ayunda @ Tea and Paperbacks and while I haven’t been tagged in it, I’m doing it anyway (oh, and if you have a book blog and you’re reading this - you’ve been tagged!)

Let’s get started.

Reading on the couch or on the bed?

Definitely on the couch, even though I read more on my bed. I tend to lie on my stomach or rest my head on my hand when reading in bed which is really bad for my back, wrists, and shoulders, but I have some really comfy couches that are great for reading in (on?)

Main character: Male or Female?
I adore reading books with badass female protagonists, or even fantastically written female characters, but sometimes it’s refreshing to read a book with a male protagonist, so both? 

Sweet or Salty snacks while reading?

Salty! I used to be able to eat some really sweet foods all the time, and while I’m still very much a sweet tooth, if I’m going in for a long haul reading session I’ll take some fruit or something savoury with me (it’s more filling and is less likely to make me feel guilty for eating it)

Trilogies or Quartets?

I actually haven’t read too many quartets, so I’ll say trilogies. But if this question was about Duologies and Trilogies? Definitely Duologies (Six of Crows! This Savage Song!)

First Person POV or Third Person POV?

If there’s more than one main character? Definitely, third person, because we can read a few different perspectives every few pages, and it’s not limited to just one characters view, but if the story is told from a single point of view I tend to prefer First Person.

Night or Morning Reader?

I love mornings, they’re so quiet and often quite gorgeous, but I am very much a night owl and because I work nights I usually sleep for most of the morning. I do a lot of my reading in the afternoon/evenings/nights. 

Libraries or Bookstores?

I love both equally, but unless a bookstore has seats where I can read a few pages of a book to make sure I’m 100% about buying it? I’ll go for libraries. Also, you save money!

Books that make you laugh or book that make you cry?

Oh. Um? I love a book that makes me laugh, they’re so fantastic and there aren’t enough of them, but books that make me cry are so satisfying. 

Black or White Book Covers?

I have lots of both, but I think maybe white covers? Lots of them are really minimalistic OR they have heaps of colour on a white background, which is always super fun.

Character driven plot or plot driven characters?

Oooh, that’s a hard one. Okay, maybe Character Driven Plots? I love a plot that impacts the characters and they react to, but some of my favourite books have plot points that happen because of the characters (‘A Gathering of Shadows’, anyone?)

Also if I don't like the character there's a 90% chance that I'm not going to like the book, so characters are the selling point for me.

That’s all!

I’m not going to have my laptop for the next few days because I’m doing the 40 Hour Famine and I’m not bringing my laptop, or any novels with me (I’m slightly terrified, what will I do?!), but I have a few reviews for some new releases coming up soon! ‘In The Dark Spaces’ by Cally Black and ‘No Limits’ by Ellie Marney, which I have a prerelease digital copy of because I got in touch with Ellie, and so far I’m loving it! It’s very Aussie, which is absolutely hilarious to me, even though the tone of the book is quite serious (I do get that, but after reading so many books by American Authors or fantasy books, it’s nice to have some Aussie dialogue, y’know?)

(Actual Footage of me when I get a new Aussie Book)

I’m also going to two launches/releases in the next week! One for ‘No Limits’ and the other is for ‘Gap Year in Ghost Town’ by Michael Pryor which I’m yet to read but I’ve read the first page and I’m excited to read it. I also picked up ‘Monstress’ and Volumes 4, 5, and 6 of Saga, and I’ve been fighting my brother off them until I get a chance to read them. 

I was talking with my Dad the other day about my writing (is that a surprise? I don’t think it is) and he’s given me a deadline for the rewrite of my novel, ‘Heartstrings’, which is a fantasy romance about a Princess called Ava who gets kidnapped, but escapes through her own means  and returns home before finding out that the whole thing was staged so she would be rescued by a Prince, but that backfired as the Prince is now captured because an enemy Kingdom paid off a band of criminals to actually kidnap Ava and she goes to save him. Somewhere along the way, her best friend tags along, helps her save the Prince, and they make an adventure out of a strange situation. There’s a lot more going on than that, but you get the idea. It’s a cute, sweet adventure with two LGBTQIA+ romances, misguided but well-meant attempts at aiding a Kingdom, and a tournament that has all the locals swooning over the young royals. 

We’ve agreed that I’m going to finish that draft, do a quick edit, and start sending enquiries to agents and publishers by mid-September, so that’s just a little intimidating. It’s also been something I’ve been wanting to do since I started writing and sharing my work publicly, so I’m actually going to do something about that. 

As always, Until next time, Meg 

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August TBR and a Reading Quest!

Hello again! 
I feel like the last few days have gone by in a whirlwind! I went to a book launch (post and review of the book to come), I went and saw the stage play of 'My Fair Lady', and have been running around organising things for the next few months. 

Speaking of the next few months, August is going to be a pretty big month for me, I’ve got a lot of events happening, I’m going to Hobart for a week, and I’m participating in GISHWHES, The 40 Hour Famine Backpack Challenge as well as Read at Midnight’s #TheReadingQuest reading challenge! 

Lot’s of things happening and lots of books to read. 

I’m planning on, or at least hoping to, record some of the challenges I do during GISHWES and the 40 Hour Famine in youtube, as well as my trip to Hobart and if I can find time between everything else, start a booktube! It’s been something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while, and I finally have a working camera, so we shall see how that goes. 

To the TBR!

One of my goals for August is to get through and finish most, if not all, of the books on my ‘Currently Reading’ list, with one exception (the Hamilton Biography) because it’s intimidating, like really intimidating. With the Reading Quest I’m going to be super ambitious and try and fill up all the squares on the board, but I’ll be starting with the Knight and going from there.

Books I need to finish:

'In the Dark Spaces' by Callie Black
‘The Raven King’ by Maggie Stiefvater

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood

‘A Conjuring of Light’ by V.E Schwab

‘Dragonfly in Amber’ by Diana Gabaldon

‘The Amber Spyglass’ by Philip Pullman

In all honesty, I can most likely get through ‘The Raven King’, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’ in less than a day each if I devote the time to them, and it really doesn’t take me very long to get through YA books (or most books, depending on the subject)

Now. The Reading Quest. 

The genius behind this reading challenge is Aentee/Read At Midnight and all the art was done by CW at Read, Think, Ponder. It's styled after video game quests, and runs from Sunday the 13th of August to Sunday the 10th of September (if you want to enter it yourself, you have until the 13th to do so!) 

The board is basically a bingo board, but each tile has a different reading prompt and all the purple ones are 'Quests' that you send your character on and, like Bingo, you cross off every tile that you complete. There's a lot of other things that go with it, and I've the link to the sign-up post with all the information that I haven't put in this post: HERE

Here's the board:

These are the Character Classes: Knight, Rogue, Mage, and Bard. 

I've decided to start with the Knight, because that means I can start with a book that I'm super excited to read, but I've also picked out books for every other tile and character on the board because I'm super ambitious, okay? 

I'm not saying that I'm going to get through every single tile on the board, but I'm going to at least try. DISCLAIMER: Some of these books are on my Currently Reading list, but I'm under 100 pages into them and they've been there for almost two months so I'm going to start them again in the spirit of the challenge, and because I haven't finished them they don't count as rereads.

Without any further explanation, here are my books!

Knight:

First book in a series - ‘Green Rider’ by Kristen Britain.

A Book with a Verb in the title - ‘A Conjuring of Light’ by V.E Schwab 

Book with a weapon on the cover - ‘Ahsoka’ by E.K Johnston

A Book with a Red Cover - ‘The Mime Order’ by Samantha Shannon

A Book that has a TV/Movie Adaption - ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ by Madeleine L’Engle

Now, if I finish those books I’ve already picked out books for the other quests.

Bard:

A Fairytale Retelling - ‘The Wrath and the Dawn’ by Renee Ahdieh

A Book with Striking Typography - ‘Windwitch’ by Susan Dennard

A Book translated from Another Language - ‘The Arabian Nights’ (So I get the retelling and the original!)

A Banned Book - ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell. I was going to read ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ but I’m planning on finishing it in the next few days.

Rogue:

A Book with a Partially obscured face on the Cover: ‘Bitterblue’ by Kristen Cashore

A Book with more than 500 ratings on Goodreads: ‘Wonder’ by R.J Palacio

A Book Published by a Small Press: ‘We Awaken’ by Calista Lynne

A Book with a One Word Title: ‘Starflight’ by Melissa Landers

Mage:

A Book that Contains Magic: ‘Roar’ by Cora Carmack

A Book based on Mythology: ‘The Golem and the Djinni’ by Helene Wecker

A Book Set in a Different World: ‘Nevernight’ by Jay Kristoff

And for the Blue Tiles!

Potions: ‘Beautiful Creatures’ by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Multiplayer: ‘Dividing Eden’ by Joelle Charbonneau

Grind: ‘Dragonfly in Amber’ by Diana Gabaldon

Respawn: ‘Versailles’ by Massie Elizabeth

Open World: ‘The Secret Loves of Geek Girls’ by Hope Nicholson

Time Warp: ‘The Tournament’ by Matthew Reilly

Expansion: ‘Ice Study’ by Maria V Snyder

Mini-game: ‘Blackest Night’ (Green Lantern Comic/Graphic Novel) by Geoff Johns

Animal Companion: ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ by C.S Lewis

That is… a lot of books. 

I’m not going to kid myself into thinking that I’ll get through all of these, but it’ll be helpful if I planned them all out, right? Right.


I mentioned at the very start of this post that I'm doing both GISHWHES and the 40 Hour Famine Backpack Challenge, and I'll do posts on them later in the month, but to give you an idea GISHWHES is "an international scavenger hunt where thousands of people make art, go on adventures, solve riddles, meet new friends, push themselves and commit heartwarming acts of kindness and courage". It runs from teh 5th to the 12th of August, and it's a whole lot of fun. The 40 Hour Famine is run by World Vision, and participants fundraise for a particular cause each year. This year, fundraising efforts go towards displaced people and refugees, and participants will live with the things they are able to pack in their backpacks.
My fundraising link for the 40 Hour Famine is HERE

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and let me know what your reading this month in the comments! Until the next time, Meg.

The Goodreads Book Tag

So I didn’t really want to start off with a review just yet, mostly because I have two posts planned for next with that will come with a book review. I wasn’t quite sure what to write for my second blog post, and then it came to me, why not start a book tag? 

After hours (well, minutes) of searching, I found one that I really wanted to do right now and quite a few others that I would love to do later, including the 'Villains book tag', but I after finding The Goodreads Book Tag on Curiouser and Curiouser, I decided to go with that one. Here goes!

What was the last book you marked as ‘Read’?

Saga Volume One was the last thing that I marked as 'Read' on Goodreads, but I also finished the ‘A Monster Calls’ audio book on the same day, so why not both?

What are you currently reading?

‘The Raven King’ by Maggie Stiefvater

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood

’A Conjuring of Light’ by V.E Schwab

‘Dragonfly in Amber’ by Diana Gabaldon

‘The Amber Spyglass’ by Philip Pullman

‘Alexander Hamilton’ biography by Ron Chernow. 

I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that these five have been on my ‘Currently Reading’ list for a few months, but I keep getting distracted and seeing as three out of five of them are the last books in the series, I don’t really want them to end. My solution to that i just stop reading them. The plan is to have most of those read by my birthday (which is just over a month away), so I’m expecting you guys to hold me accountable for that.

What was the last book you marked as ‘TBR’?

‘The Rest Of Us Just Live Here’ by Patrick Ness. I’ve read (and listened to) a couple of books by Patrick Ness, and I remember when walking into a bookstore the day this was published but not getting it. A close friend of mine asked me if I’d read it yet because she wants to talk to me about it, and it’s now part of my ever growing TBR!

What book do you plan to read next?

Not including the ones on my currently reading list? Probably ‘In The Dark Spaces’ by Cally Black. I’m going to the book launch for it and if I can get a copy that’ll probably be what I read next, and I’ll have a post up about the launch and with my review of the book! It has such an interesting premise and I’m so excited to read it.

Do you use the star rating?

I do! On my profile, I have a ‘How I Rate’ guide type thing, and I still stand by it because I won’t always write a full review on GR and it gives a bit of understanding as to why I rated a book a certain way. That said, I have a really good nose for books that I’ll enjoy, so most of my ratings are 4 or 5 stars, and I’m half tempted to find a book I know I won’t like just so I balance out my ratings and can be really objective.

1 star: Look, I didn't enjoy this book and generally can't stand it

2 stars: I liked one or two things about it, but not enough to like it

3 stars: Not bad, but not great either

4 stars: I enjoyed this book and would read it again, but I didn’t absolutely love it

5 stars: I adored this book and will sing praises about it forever

Are you doing the 2017 reading challenge?

I am! My goal is 111 books, and the reason why I chose that was because at the time I was in New Zealand (or about to leave for New Zealand) and was trying to think of a number, and of course, going to Hobbiton and/or watching ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ (and the rest of the movies) I thought using Bilbo’s age as my goal would be fun and a little bit clever.

At the moment I’m three books ahead of schedule at 65 books, and counting!

Do you have a Wishlist?

I do, but it’s not on Goodreads, it’s on the Book Depository website, though I guess you could count some of the books on my TBR list as a Wishlist. 

Five books off my Wishlist are:

‘Angel in Training’ by C.L Coffey

‘Shadow Scale’ by Rachel Hartman

The ‘Lunar Chronicles’ by Marissa Meyer

‘Sorcerer to the Crown’ by Zen Cho

‘The Hazel Wood’ by Melissa Albert

Honorary mention: ‘Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls’ by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo.

What book do you plan to buy next?

‘In The Dark Spaces’ by Cally Black, or maybe Volume Four of the DC ‘Bombshells’ comic series.

Do you have any favourite quotes? Share a few.

‘As Travars’ and “I’m not going to die’ She said, ‘Not till I’ve seen it.’ ‘Seen what?’ Her smile widened. ‘Everything” from ‘A Darker Shade of Magic’ by V.E Schwab.

“It’s not natural for women to fight.’ ‘It’s not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand” from ‘Six of Crows’ by Leigh Bardugo.

“There are good days and hard days for me, even now. Don’t let the hard days win.” From ‘A Court of Mist and Fury’ by Sarah J Maas. 

“How absurd it was that in all seven kingdoms, the weakest and most vulnerable of people - girls, women - went unarmed and were taught nothing of fighting, while the strong were trained to the highest reaches of their skill.” From ‘Graceling’ by Kristin Cashore. Also, that one scene when Katsa is testing Po’s Grace and she literally mind-yells at him, that scene is so precious.

“Temeraire said, 'It is very nice how many books there are, indeed. And on so many subjects!” ‘His Majesty’s Dragon’ by Naomi Novik. Two of my favourite things, books and dragons!

Who are your favourite Authors/Writers?

I don’t know what’s worse, asking what my favourite book(s) are, or asking for my favourite authors. (Probably authors)

In no particular order, here’s 10:

1.  Leigh Bardugo
2.  Kristin Cashore
3.  Victoria (V.E) Schwab
4.  Naomi Novik
5.  J.K Rowling
6.  Jay Kristoff
7.  Amie Kaufman
8.  Susan Dennard
9.  Patrick Ness
10.  Philip Pullman

Have you joined any groups?

Yes, and I do interact now and again with them, but I’m not active in any of them. I think I joined them mostly for book recommendations in a specific area (LGBT, Feminist Lit, Fantasy)

I Tag: Anyone reading this who’s starting a blog, has a blog, or an instagram or youtube channel! (Or anyone who wants to do this really)

Until the next time, Meg.

P.S - Let me know in the comment what book(s) you're currently reading!

Hello World!

I am, as of 11:11 pm AEST, on the 25th of July, 2017, starting a book blog! And eventually, hopefully soon, have a booktube channel but we can talk about that later. *Pops confetti popper*

But wait, who are you again? 

Good question! I'm a nineteen year old Australian called Meaghan - but call me Meg (It's easier to spell and I'm quite fond of the nickname) - who reads a lot, writes a lot, and travels a fair bit. I also like making things by way of knitting, macrame, sewing, and cooking in all its various forms. 

Why did I decide to make a book/travel blog, you ask? 

Honestly, all I want to do is share my adventures and thoughts with the world, whether they're in the real world or a fictional one (or a fictional one of my own creation). I've been tossing up whether or not to actually do it or not, but I've collected so many books that I've yet to read and I'm going to some really interesting places in the next few months so I figured, why not share that with some like minded people and friends?

Okay, so what's the plan (or goal) for this blog? 

Is it a travel book blog, or is it a travelling book blog? This while mainly be a book blog, but given the fact that I do travel and I'm planning on travelling to some fantastic places in the next few years, I'll probably post travel updates and tips on here as well, so it's a book blog that travels!

The main sorts of things that I want to post here will be book reviews, travel diaries, recommendation lists, "10 Things All (readers/writers/travellers) Do" lists, or, really, seeing as this is my blog, anything that I want to get off my mind and into the world. 

What do you like to read, then? 

I read a bunch of things and a very varied range of stuff too. I have a lot of comic books (I've noticed a common theme that most of them are female oriented or have a female main character like Spider-Gwen or the DC Bombshells series or Saga), as well as many historical novels (like Outlander and the His Majesty's Dragon books), fantasy novels (A Darker Shade of Magic and the Graceling series), and so many others!

I read a lot of Young Adult fiction, and I tend to stick to fantasy and SciFi, though I do enjoy a good contemporary or paranormal novel every now and again. 

I'm also on a really big audiobook kick at the moment, and you can definitely expect something about those sooner or later. 

Where have you travelled to, and where are you planning on going? 

As this is partially a travel blog so it would make sense to have a post or something about where I've been every now and again, right? I've been to Spain, China, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA! I've also travelled and gone camping a lot in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, the ACT and Queensland here in Australia. I might map out all the places I've been later, we shall see.

I'm planning on going back to the USA next year, I was over there working as a Camp Counsellor and Archery Instructor and would love to go back, and my sister and I are talking about travelling around the UK for a couple of months in 2019, and I would love to travel around Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. I basically want to go everywhere.

I'll save all the little, nitty gritty details for another time, and later on, I can do a post with all the random fun facts people might want to know about a reader with the travel bug. But for now, I hope to connect and talk and share my thoughts about the books I'm reading and the places I'm travelling to.

Until the next time, Meg.