Fall Book Challenge 2015!

October 22, 20153 Comments

Hello everyone! Welcome to a super fun, link super BOOKISH blog post today. I know that lately I have been spamming you like crazy with posts about MY book and I do apologize for that. I mean, I know you guys are JUST as excited as I am too, but let’s not forget about other peoples’ books, right?

Right.

So my dear best friend, Alex, from People Like Books, did a vlog recently where she came up with her OWN Fall Book Challenge, of questions. You can watch her video here. Of course, she tagged me. Now, I thought about doing a vlog buuuuuuut to be honest, I don’t have the time for it (editing sucks big time lol) and I’m a writer, so it’ll just work SO much better in an actual blog post.

So here we go! I’m going to answer the questions, and then tag a few people, and yeah, its going to be quite fun!

1) All time favorite book/series

Now, why don’t you start off with a harder question, Alex. Seriously? Really? This is SO hard.

Actually its not that hard. There are SEVERAL series of books that I like, and LOVE, but there is one series that sort of tops out all the rest of them and that is easily the Harry Potter series. I started reading those books when I was 10 years and I am now nearing on 28 years old so they’ve been a part of my life for a really long time. I could go on and on about what they did for me, but honestly, you guys know. They did what every good book does to me…but times a million.

2. Match Your Favorite Song with a Book

So my favorite song EVER is Konstantine by Something Corporate. And I tried really hard to think of a book that went with that but honestly it just didn’t. So I started to think of my other favorite songs…and basically it was just way too much thinking for me. An easy one is…one of my favorite songs by Fall Out Boy, Just One Yesterday. I absolutely love that song; it makes me SO happy and I belt it out like I can actually carry tune.

Fall Out Boy – Just One Yesterday

Spoiler alert: I totally can’t.

But anyway, it reminds me of the first three books in the Mortal Instruments series, and especially City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. There is just something about that song that just reminds me of Jace and Clary and their love story and all the utter SHIT they go through together, but how they just keep ending back in the same spot. Its beautiful.

3. When You Buy Books, Do You Judge Them Based on Their Cover?

Question? Are there actually, legitimately, actually people who DON’T judge a book by their cover? I mean, are there really?

Maybe there are. But I do. I definitely do. Its kind of sucky too because in YA, there can be a LOT of crappy covers. Take for instance…the Lux series by Jennifer L Armentrout OR the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. HORRIBLE covers. Like…I cringe just thinking about how bad those covers are! But those series are actually seriously great, and it was because of the recommendations of trusted friends that I even read them (which cracks me up, now that I have a VA tattoo)

But honestly? Without a solid recommendation or whatever, if I see a cover that is just…I don’t know, sparkly, or cliche, or has two teens looking way too much in love or something, I don’t know, I’m going to have to pass. Covers are what draw my attention in, so of course they are going to be what completely repels me as well.

4. How Do You Treat Your Books

I SHOW THEM LOVE. lol. I am very hard on my books. I know a lot of people like to give me a hard time about that but I say PSH on you. But I like to get rough with them. It just happens. I like to be comfortable when I read, so I bend the spines and I take them outside and I read while I eat so I spill food on them, and things like that. You can see above…that’s my favorite book, Trickster’s Choice, and I have torn it to pieces. AND I actually handed that over to Tamora Pierce to have her sign it too. Blasphemy? I think not. I have shown how much I absolutely love that book.

5. All Time Favorite Author?

That’s a hard question. I decided to narrow it down to four because come on, ONE?! There’s just no way. My top four would be JK Rowling, Tamora Pierce, Andrew Smith, and Cassandra Clare. These ones are basically what I consider my “auto-buy” authors…whatever they release, I’m there, and I buy it.

6. Name Only ONE Book You Would Recommend to People Who Never Read Books

This one is hard…because I feel like everyone is so different. What I might recommend to one person…it may not work at all for another person at all. But I think my go-to book, the one that immediately comes to mind when people ask me for book recommendations (which happens QUITE often)…is Winger by Andrew Smith.

Its just SO good, and its a fairly easy read and it just has so much. Its hilarious and its emotional at the same time, and its just easily one of my favorite books. I love that way that its written, it kind of shows those who normally don’t read that books don’t have to be so…formal? Is that the word I’m looking for? I have no idea haha. But its written casually and its hilarious and its my go-to recommendation.

7. What is a Book That You Wish had a Better Ending?

Its funny because I have two…and they are the exact same ones as Alex.

The first one is Origin by Jennifer L Armentrout. This is the very last book in the Lux series. It just…it didn’t end like I had hoped it would. Everything was wrapped in this pretty little bow and it made me want to punch a wall or something. And spoiler alert: the characters get married and it just irritates me to NO end. Teens don’t need to get married…and it really added nothing to the actual plot line. I just thought the whole last book was a mess

The second one is City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare…god. I don’t even know what to say or where to start. Basically…that book was just the messiest, incredibly disappointing book. I expected heartbreak and death and all this stuff and it just didn’t deliver to me. Just further proof that City of Glass should have been the end…

8. Biggest Book on Your Bookshelf.

I’m pretty sure its City of Heavenly Fire. Its like 800 pages? Or some of my Harry Potter books are damn huge. Gone with the Wind might be as well, but its paperback so it doesn’t look quite as big haha! Its over 1000 pages though so it has to be the biggest one…

9. What are the First Two Books on Your Wishlist?

*goes to look*

Well…technically the first two on my book wish list are the Infernal Devices and Mortal Instruments box sets because they have new covers…but that doesn’t really count haha.

So the next two are Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas

and Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray.

I gotta get those!

10. Do You Prefer e-Readers or real books?

Look, I’m going to be that girl. I like both. I really do. Don’t get me wrong…I love books more, definitely. I love the smell, and the satisfaction of cracking the spine and I love seeing the beautiful beautiful covers and spines.

But I also read super stupid fast. So I love e-readers because I have all these CHOICES. I love that. I love that I can get early copies of books I love a little easier because I’ll accept a e-copy of it.

11. If you Could Live in Any Fictional World, Which Would You Choose?

I feel like this is cheating and its so obvious but its SO true. I would easily live in the world of Harry Potter. I’ve been reading that since I was 10 years old. I want to be a damn wizard already. I’m already convinced I am one ;)

12. Favorite October Read?

I’m going to talk about two. One is A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. I love it because its very paranormal, very dark and romantic. It reminds me of the sort of autumn, creep, gothic, spooky feeling we get this time of year. The entire series is absolutely amazing and its one that’s fallen off a little over the past couple years but it should make a huge comeback because the covers are gorgeous and the series is just simple amazing.

The second one is one that I just read: Secrets in Phoenix by Gabriella Lepore. I swear to you, I’m not just mentioning it because she’s my author sis, and we’re published by the same company. Not at all lol. Her book is SO perfect for this month! Ben really picked the perfect title for his first release and in October. I LOVE it. Its spooky and dark and it has WITCHES in it, and you really can’t get better than that.

I lied. I have a third one. Jinx by Meg Cabot. I LOVE Meg’s books. Its a perfectly fun and witchy book and I absolutely ADORE it. I just remembered it right now. I love it, it has spells and a a jinx (hence the title) and a cute boy and all kinds of fun. UGH. Now I want to reread this book…

13. Favorite Snack to Have While You Read

Everything? Its hard to say because I literally eat and read at the same time ALL the time. Because if I’m wrapped up in the book, I don’t pause. Period. I just don’t. So everything? But some favorites are my iced green teas, hot cheetos and gobstoppers…not at all the same time though because that sounds seriously disgusting…

14. What book Feels Like a Knitted Sweater

I’m not sure if this is what Alex meant but the first book I thought of when I heard this question was Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Everything about that book screams comfort and cozy sweater and familiarity. Plus there’s this fall feeling to it and I’m not really sure why haha but I always think fall when I think Fangirl. But anyway, I’ve said before and I”ll say it another million times…Fangirl is a book that is incredibly close to my heart and to my personality and to me, period, so it is something that I would wear if I could make it into an article of clothing

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Thanks for reading guys and thanks Alex for tagging me. I’m tagging a few people below but feel free to do it whether or not I tagged you. Do it in a vlog like Alex or a blog like me, or whatever you so want. Just make sure to use the hashtag #FallBookChallenge15! And tag me and Alex (@peoplelikebooks) in it!

Happy Fall everyone!

Cassie and Erica at BookNerdBabes
Isabel at The Book Academy
Naif at Fanboyology
Jessica at Jesy’s Journal
Nicole at The Reader’s Antidote

Monday Missions #15…On a Tuesday!

July 29, 2014Leave a comment

And in blog form instead of vlog!

I was feeling kind of lazy between blogging and working yesterday so I never got to Monday Missions. Now today, look I have dirty hair and I’m kind of sloppy looking after binge reading so I decided that instead of just ignoring the Monday Missions period, health I would do it in blog form.

For those of you who don’t know what the Monday Missions is, treat its a weekly vlog that my dear friend Daisy created on her YouTube channel The Thousand Lives of Daisy. Every week, you come up with your weekly TBR list. On mine, I talk about the books I wanted to read, what I actually read and what I hope to read this week.

Let’s jump in!

What I Wanted to Read:

The Iron Trial

The Indigo Spell

The Fiery Heart

What I Actually Read:

The Indigo Spell

I continued my reread of the Bloodlines series in anticipation of today’s release of Silver Shadows!

The Fiery Heart

Ditto

The Giver

I knew I would have to reread this soon because of the movie and so I decided to do so. AND I finished it in about an hour haha.

The Iron Trial

I was about halfway through this and I needed to finish it. So I did!

What I Want to Read:

Silver Shadows

This came out today! AGH!

Heir of Fire

I’ve had this ARC since ALA last month and I’ve finally ready to dive into it. Its SO huge but I’m ready for it.

Atlantia

I’ve had this one as well since ALA and its a standalone which is something I really need in my life. I can’t wait to read this.

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What are you reading this week? Make sure to share in the comments!

Vlog: June Book Haul!

July 8, 2014April 3, 2020Leave a comment

I know, here I know! Its July 8th, and I’m SO behind in posting this, but hey, I have an excuse. I’ve had the craziest past week and I filmed it on 4th of July and then totally forgot to post it…

And well here it is.

After May’s ginormous book haul, I decided to cut back in June, take a break from the incessant book buying.

And while that helped a little bit, I still managed to get a fairly big sized book haul. I actually only ended up showing PART of it haha. Enjoy!

What are some awesome books that you got in the month of June? Share in the comments!

Tuesday Top Ten-Reasons I Love Being a Blogger

June 18, 20142 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about being a blogger later. I’ve been doing it for over two years now, viagra buy which is kind of baffling to me. I know people who’ve been doing it for so much longer than me but two years is nothing to sneeze at. I’m quite proud of myself too. Its been a lot of hard work but I love it.

But I truly have been thinking about it quite a lot lately. Reaching my two year anniversary was huge, shop and I had a mondo giveaway for it. Yes, I realize mondo is not a word, but for the sake of this post, let’s just pretend that it is. I’ve also gotten recognized a bit in public, and by public, I mean, when I’m at bookish or nerdish events. That’s been kind of fun. I’ve had people talking about my blog to others, which, again, kind of fun and kind of crazy.

I’ve also really started to spread myself out. I have friends everywhere I go. Its kind of insane but I am loving it so much. I’m meeting people at book signings and festivals and premieres and concerts, and I’m meeting people online and I’m meeting booksellers and authors and other bloggers and its just been intense and awesome. Last night, I was at Leigh Bardugo’s release party for Ruin and Rising (more on that at a later post, of course), and I had several people coming up to talk to me. Bloggers. Readers. Librarians. Authors. It was an incredible feeling and it reminded me how much I love doing this and how much I love being in this world.

So this week’s top ten is talking about WHY I love being a blogger. Enjoy :)

Technically there aren’t ten reasons. I know what you’re thinking. If you love blogging so much, aren’t there a million reasons. Well, yes and no. The fact is, there are a million reasons why I love being a blogger and why I love my blog but it all kind of boils down to these reasons.

9. Promoting my Novel

I mean, come on, this is something that I honestly didn’t think about it until fairly recently BUT its something that I think is going to work out for me in the long run. I’ve spent and continue to spend a lot of time on this blog. I don’t have a massive following but there’s a good amount of you out there, and I think that’s awesome. And the few of you that are there, are REALLY great fans. You guys rock, and I love talking to you. I honestly think that a good amount of you will follow me into my writing career and that’s awesome. There are a lot of you that have expressed a ton of interest in reading The Awakened so that makes me incredibly happy. I think my blog has gotten me on a great start to hopefully making my novel be successful in the future.

8. Discovering New Fandoms

When I first started blogging, I had a small group of fandoms, but I was very passionate about them. In the past two years of blogging, my fandoms have exploded. I was a TMI fan, and a Star Wars and Harry Potter and Doctor Who and many many others but I’ve discovered Legend and Jessica Brody’s books and Leigh Bardugo and Andrew Smith, and just the whole wide world of YA that I hadn’t even begun to discover yet. Every day, I’m discovering new authors, new books, new shows, new movies and that is awesome. I review a book, and it leads me to another book, which leads to me to another book. My life is a never-ending life of discovery.

7. Building up My Reputation and Earning Recognition

This is kind of the lowest one because…well its sort of unintended thing that happened. I had very different reasons for my blog when I first started it, so what happened with it actually worked out even better for me. But I love being a blogger because I love what it creates for me. It establishes me as a book lover and it establishes me as a person that works hard, and cares about the world of books and reading and writing and I love that. I love that, not only do I have the fans of readers, but I have teachers and librarians and authors and other bloggers that know me and respect me, and seek me out for things and that really means a lot to me. I may not get paid for being a blogger, but this…this is a huge reason and a huge paycheck for me. I love the way I feel when people recognize the hard work I put in and they respect me for that, and they support me.

6. The Perks!

Okay, I’d be lying if I said the perks weren’t a reason I love being a blogger. When I get a book in the mail, or get approved for an e-galley online, or when I’m granted press access, or that sort of thing…it feels good. Because those sorts of things, they don’t come easy. I didn’t start my blog to get free books, honestly. And those who do start blogs to get free stuff, and press access, etc,…you can tell and they end up not achieving those goals because they seem very lacking. So working my butt off for two years, and being able to earn these sorts of things is pretty awesome. I do enjoy that.

5. Writing About My Passions

This is literally the REASON I started What a Nerd Girl Says. I was tired of talking everyone’s ears off about books that I love to read and that sort of thing and them being bored of their mind. I wanted a place that I could come to and talk about all these things that are so awesome to me. I was also taking children’s literature at the time and we did a small unit on YA, which made me feel…a lot of things actually. I had the desire to talk about it all the time and I also felt some validity in reading it, as an adult at 24 years old. So I started the blog. And I love that I can log onto this site and literally write about whatever I want, whenever I want. I love that. I can talk books every single day, I can write about movies and TV shows, and I can write my reactions and I can fangirl like crazy and I can share my opinions. I honestly think that’s just the best reason to start my blog and its a huge reason why I continue to do so.

4. The Events

I love all the amazing things that I get to do. Honestly, its not like I have to do them or I’m invited to do them. I just do them. I did some book events before I had a blog but I really didn’t get involved until I had a blog. I didn’t realize how much was possible. I didn’t realize all the books that were out there, or the authors. I didn’t realize you could go to launch events for books, or go to movie premieres and meet and greets. I’ve gotten so hugely involved with all that, because of my blog. I’ve met SO many authors, and I’ve been to movie premieres and meet and greets and I’ve been to epic concerts and I’m attending my first ALA conference, and I’ve been to book festivals and its awesome. People are constantly, like, “Sara, you’re ALWAYS there” when it comes to events and they’re right. Usually. I got involved and I love it, I love every moment that I get to meet an author, or attend a premiere or something like that. I absolutely love it.

3. Becoming Friends with Authors

This is something, again, that’s sort of randomly, magically happened and I absolutely love it. I want to be an author. Its like…when you’re a little kid and you want to be a firefighter when you grow up and you get to see one, and they talk to you, and its like…its like talking to Superman. Its like, they’re the biggest person you’ve ever seen. That’s the way I feel with authors. I want to be one, and I’m coming closer and closer to becoming one. So the fact that authors know me, and are becoming my…friends, for lack of a better word…it makes me incredibly happy. I love saying hi to them at events. Ava Dellaira, Jennifer Bosworth, Gretchen McNeil…they all said hi to me last night, gave me hugs and it makes me feel awesome. It’s total hero worship! I love that my blog constantly brings me in contact with the people that I am inspired by.

2. The Community

The people that are involved in this community that I’ve immersed myself in. Disregarding a few rare cases, I’ve found that this community is incredible. Everyone is so supportive of each other. Librarians and authors and booksellers and bloggers and fans, they all work together, and (for the most part), there is no competition and I love that! There’s always this moment, where you think, I need to know something or I have a question, or something of that nature and I can immediately think of someone in my community, whether in real life or online, that can assist me. I think its great that I can meet other bloggers in real life and we automatically are fast friends, and we’re exchanging ideas. I love that there’s this whole little inside world of people that all love the same sorts of things as me.

1. Meeting New Friends

Which brings me to my very last and very important reason that I love being a blogger and running this blog. I go to these events and make friends online and I have this incredible community and all of this, and it brings me to some of the best people ever. I have met some of the COOLEST people, that I can’t imagine being without…and in only the last two years. I’ve met amazing friends, people that I literally talk to every single day. These are the first people I want to text when reading a new book, or when I find out about a cool event. We laugh together and wait in lines for hours together, and its been amazing to find these friends. Without my blog, I wouldn’t have these people in my life and that would be a very sad thing to me, and I’m grateful for my blog, because it brought me to every single one of them.

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Are you a blogger? What are some of the reasons you love doing it? Share in the comments!

Weekly Fangirl Round Up!

June 7, 2014Leave a comment

A new trailer and poster has been revealed for Love, stomach Rosie, medicine starring Lily Collins and Sam Claflin.

Naomi Watts joins the cast of Insurgent, page as Four’s mother.

Cassandra Clare announces that there will be Simon Lewis short stories in the near future.

A new full-length, extended trailer for The Giver has been released!

The leader of Candor has been cast, welcome Daniel Day Kim to the Divergent family!

The new trailer for Gayle Forman’s If I Stay movie adaptation is released, and includes scenes from the prologue.

Watch the first trailer for the movie adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Best of Me.

Michael Gambon, aka Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter movies 3-8, has been cast in a role in JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy! Find out the rest of the casting here!

Check out the first two chapters of Robert Galbraith’s (aka JK Rowling) second novel, The Silkworm, and make sure to preorder it through your indie bookstore!

Will the Song of Ice and Fire series by one book longer than anticipated? George RR Martin’s editor suggests this might be so!

Star Wars Episode 7 adds two fantastic ladies to the cast: Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)! Fun fact: Gwendoline was recently cast as Commander Lyme in Mockingjay!

Want to learn Dothraki? Well, with this new companion software, you can!

Set photos have been leaked from the upcoming Star Wars movie, and it looks like we’ll see a bit of the Millennium Falcon!

JJ Abrams has an interesting response for the leaked Star Wars Episode 7 photos.

Both John Green and Nat Wolff talk about the upcoming adaptation of another of John’s books, Paper Towns.

George RR Martin wants to put you in A Game of Thrones…and kill you. Find out how it could be you!

Rumors are abound that Benedict Cumberbatch could be starring in a Dr. Strange movie!

Ant-man gets a new director in the form of Peyton Reed!

Teen Wolf fans: the official trailer is finally here!

The cover for Abbi Glines’ new novel has been revealed! Check it out!

The Fault in Our Stars opens up to a huge box office weekend, aims to beat out Shailene’s other blockbuster hit this year, Divergent.

The DUFF has officially begun filming, check out all the photos we’ve seen so far!

A trailer for Maggie Stiefvater’s Sinner has been released!