What I’ve Recently Read, Plus Thoughts on Going Forward

It’s been a month. How is everyone doing? Life has been crazy for me. I’m moving from the home I grew up in and going to another state. A fresh new start. I’ll also be starting university at the end of the summer. I’m super excited. But I already know I won’t be reading much once school starts.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how reading and blogging aren’t enticing me as much as they used to. I’ve gone through slumps in the past purely because of burnout. But now that my life is going to dramatically change, I’ve had to think about managing my time going forward.

I still love reading and will always read voraciously, but with work and now college fast approaching, I find that while I do still read, I don’t have the time to devote to writing reviews. I do love blogging and it’s taught me incredibly useful skills that I am actively using at one of my jobs. Book blogging kept me sane while I was going through a rough patch and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I am blessed that I joined the book community and met and talked to other readers when I didn’t have any IRL friends who read the same types of books as me.

I plan to try to keep up posting at least once a month up until my third year blogging anniversary on August 24th, literally the week before I start classes. After the summer is over, though, I won’t promise anything. It seems like this will be the right timing to let go of The Leaning Tower of Tomes…

But until August 24th rolls around — here’s a look at what I’ve read in the past two months. I’ll admit, I have only read three books since I posted my review of Wild Orchid. And because I’m in the middle of packing, working two jobs, and getting my wisdom teeth out, I don’t know if I’ll be reading much of anything until I get settled in my new place. Still, I plan to read as much as I can over the summer.

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What I Read in April and May 2017:

  

Paper Girls, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Cliff Chiang, colors by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher (Paper Girls, #2) | Image Comics, November 2016. Paperback, 128 pages.

• Maybe it’s because I read a physical copy, but I enjoyed Paper Girls, Volume 2 much more than Volume 1. The time-travel/alternate-worlds aspect was poppin’ and I felt much more invested in the mystery. ♥♥♥♥

The Legion of Regrettable Super Villains by Jon Morris | Quirk Books, March 2017. Hardcover, 256 pages. I received a copy from the publisher.

• Quirk Books publishes the most amazing coffee table books, that’s what I’ve decided. The Legion of Regrettable Super Villains is basically an encyclopedia of super villains from comics that weren’t so super. ♥♥♥

Monstress, Vol. 1 by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda, lettering by Rus Wooton (Monstress, collected, #1) | Image Comics, July 2016. Paperback, 202 pages.

• Now. THIS. Was quite something! Effing dark but so intriguing. I can see why it’s been so hyped. I didn’t love it with every ounce of my being (those cat info-dumps were tedious…), but I am definitely a fan of the story and artwork. Especially the artwork. ♥♥♥♥

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So that’s what I’ve been up to lately. There’s just been so much going on I haven’t been in the mood to sit down and read. Escaping into Korean drama land and K-pop is so much easier for my brain to handle these days. And, you know, the books I typically read are complex and dark fantasies. I just need a break.

See you next month!

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What was your favorite book you read in the past few months?
Have you read any of these books?
If not, do any of them pique your interest?
Comment below letting me know!

Follow me @ toweroftomes on Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | and Bloglovin’!

What I Read In 2016: Part Three — Odds n’ Ends (Nonfiction and a random Will Shakespeare’s Star Wars)

A 2016 Wrap-Up Post!

I did Part 1 and Part 2 of the novels I read in 2016. Check those out, because I’m sure you’ll find those posts much more interesting than this one. Anyway, here are the nonfiction books I read this year. Well, except for William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, but I lumped it in this category because it’s not exactly a novel.

Click on a title to read my review! Books aren’t listed in any particular order; there’s only 8 of them, after all.

Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History by Sam Maggs | Book Review

Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History by Sam Maggs.

My copy: Quirk Books, October 4th, 2016. ARC (review copy), 240 pages.

Source: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Quirk Books!

About the book:

Ever heard of Allied spy Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim woman whom the Nazis considered “highly dangerous”? Or German painter and entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, who planned and embarked on the world’s first scientific expedition? How about Huang Daopo, the inventor who fled an abusive child marriage only to revolutionize textile production in China?

Women have always been able to change the world, even when they didn’t get the credit. In Wonder Women, author Sam Maggs introduces you to pioneering female scientists, engineers, mathematicians, adventurers, and inventors—each profile a study in passion, smarts, and stickto-itiveness, complete with portraits by Google doodler Sophia Foster-Dimino, an extensive bibliography, and a guide to present-day women-centric STEM organizations.

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Women in history had it hard. Women today still do, but it is thanks to these pioneers of their gender and generation that we can freely attend college, study STEM, travel the globe, fly planes, wear pants, and climb mountains, among other things that were unheard of for women even just a century ago.

Crafting with Feminism: 25 Girl-Powered Projects to Smash the Patriarchy by Bonnie Burton | Book Review

Crafting with Feminism: 25 Girl-Powered Projects to Smash the Patriarchy by Bonnie Burton.

My copy: Quirk Books, October 18th, 2016. Paperback (review copy), 112 pages.

Source: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Quirk Books!

About the book:

This is what a feminist crafter looks like! Wear your ideology on your sleeve by creating feminist merit badges (like “started an all-girl band” or “rocked roller derby”). Prove that the political is personal with DIY power panties (“No means no”). Craft great feminist hero finger puppets (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Frida Kahlo) or googly-eyed tampon buddies. Fun sidebars provide background on (s)heroes of the feminist movement.

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Crafting with Feminism is, superficially, cute and clever, but a few of the projects are a bit cringe-worthy, and the message about feminism and what it actually constitutes is very weak.

This crafting book has girl-power ideas you can create with your gal-pals at a party, or maybe if you’re in need of a pick-me-up if you’re just done with men and their crap (heh). Some of them are cute: finger puppets, reusable lunch bags, flower crowns, rings, hoop art, candles, and — my favorite — “High Heels Are a Pain Planters”. Other projects are a little questionable: “Tampon Buddies”, a “Uterus Body Pillow”, “Power Panties”, a “Burning Bra”, and… “Vagina Tree Ornaments”. Now, I am all for being comfortable with sexuality and one’s body, but who is really going to make a bunch of vagina ornaments to hang on their Christmas Tree? (Think: the equivalent would be having a dude hang penis ornaments up, as his form of empowerment and, er, equality. Um, no?) The idea is kind of funny at first, but it’s definitely absurd.

Reading Wrap-Up: March 2016 [#19]

Another month gone… Wow, time flies… In March 2016, I managed to read a whopping total of 5 books. Not a great reading month, but I’ve been feeling stressed and watching a lot of TV lately, so… that’s why. Anyway, let’s take a look at the books, shall we? Here they are, organized by rating. Click on a title to read my review.

Paper Hearts, Vol. 1: Some Writing Advice by Beth Revis | Mini-Review

Paper Hearts, Volume 1: Some Writing Advice by Beth Revis. Paper Hearts, #1.

My copy: Scripturient Books, November 2015. Egalley (review copy), 340 pages.

Source: I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Scripturient Books!

About the book:

Bird by Bird meets Save the Cat in this new writing advice book by NY Times bestselling author Beth Revis. With more than 100000 reads on Wattpad, this newly expanded and rewritten edition features 350 pages of content, including charts and a detailed appendix.
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Fight the blank page.

When it comes to writing, there’s no wrong way to get words on paper. But it’s not always easy to make the ink flow. Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice won’t make writing any simpler, but it may help spark your imagination and get your hands back on the keyboard.

Practical Advice Meets Real Experience

With information that takes you from common mistakes in grammar to detailed charts on story structure, Paper Hearts describes:

-How to Develop Character, Plot, & World

-What Common Advice You Should Ignore

-What Advice Actually Helps

-How to Develop a Novel

-The Basics of Grammar, Style, & Tone

-Four Practical Methods of Charting Story Structure

-How to Get Critiques and Revise Your Novel

-How to Deal with Failure

…And much more!

BONUS! More than 25 “What to do if…” scenarios to help writers navigate problems in writing from a NY Times Bestselling author who’s written more than 2 million words of fiction.

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Thoughts on Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice:

+ This book is best suited to younger and beginning writers, and those interested in the YA market and traditional publishing route. It’s not as deep and focused as some other terrific writing books I’ve read, like Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and Take Off Your Pants by Libbie Hawker, but it’s a great look at how Beth operates and what has worked (and not worked) for her.

+ This book covers a ton of different topics. Writing, outlining, characters, grammar, querying, and critiquing — Beth has something to say about it all, and that was nice. The book felt very rounded because of that.

+ Beth is a bit wordy, however. I like nonfiction books that tell you the information and not much else. Not that her stories and experiences aren’t interesting, but I just personally don’t need motivational speeches and lots of fluff.

In conclusion… Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice is a great, quick read. It’s definitely something to pick up if you’re new to writing, but if you’re well-read in these type of books, it doesn’t add anything entirely new to the discussion. Still, I recommend it to young writers and fans of Beth Revis. ♦

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Have you read Paper Hearts, Vol. 1: Some Writing Advice?
If you haven’t, would you be interested to?
What’s a writing advice book you’ve found valuable?
Comment below letting me know!
And, as always, happy reading!

Follow me @ toweroftomes on Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | and Bloglovin’!

The Sunday Post — January 31st, 2016 [#45] | Monthly Wrap-up Edition: January 2016 [#17]

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

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So you may have noticed that the blog has been kinda quiet these past few weeks. It’s mainly due to the fact that life is busy and stressful for me right now. I’m becoming tired of/discontent with my interning job, even though nothing much really has changed, just some work shift/timing adjustments and whatnot, and I might be moving (actually, I very likely will be moving) at the end of March, but to where I don’t yet know.

The thought of clearing out my apartment in sixty days and moving somewhere else (I’ve lived in this home my entire life) is kind of scary and super stressful. Isn’t moving said to be the third most stressful event in life, after death and divorce? Yeah, I understand why now. My skin is angry red, my weight is fluctuating, and I’m in this weird funk where I feel like the universe is against me.

Obviously I’m not sharing the whole story — who actually does? But I just need to say something to someone in the world because I don’t feel like it’s the right time yet to share this news with the people in my life I see on a regular basis. So consider yourself lucky that I’m blabbering to the internet first, haha.

Review — Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela DePrince

Book title: Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina
Author: Michaela DePrince, with Elaine DePrince
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (Random House Children’s Books)
Release date: October 2014
Format: Hardcover, 246 pages
Source: Library.

About the book:

The extraordinary memoir of Michaela DePrince, a young dancer who escaped war-torn Sierra Leone for the rarefied heights of American ballet.

Michaela DePrince was known as girl Number 27 at the orphanage, where she was abandoned at a young age and tormented as a “devil child” for a skin condition that makes her skin appear spotted. But it was at the orphanage that Michaela would find a picture of a beautiful ballerina en pointe that would help change the course of her life.

At the age of four, Michaela was adopted by an American family, who encouraged her love of dancing and enrolled her in classes. She went on to study at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theatre and is currently a member of the Dutch National Ballet’s junior company. She has appeared in the ballet documentary “First Position,” as well as on “Dancing with the Stars, Good Morning America,” and “Nightline.”

In this engaging, moving, and unforgettable memoir, Michaela shares her dramatic journey from an orphan in West Africa to becoming one of ballet’s most exciting rising stars.

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Taking Flight is a great glimpse into Michaela DePrince’s childhood and the struggles she overcame to reach this point in her life: being a successful ballerina. She shows that you can turn any kind of situation around and come out of it stronger than ever. Her story is very inspiring and the writing is easy to read; Michaela’s voice is relatable and sincere.

Mini-Review — Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Book title: Brown Girl Dreaming
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Group USA)
Release date: August 2014
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Source: Library.

Synopsis:

National Book Award Winner

Jacqueline Woodson, one of today’s finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

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I wish I’d reviewed Brown Girl Dreaming closer to when I read it, so, alas, this is going to be a very short review.

Brown Girl Dreaming is a touching memoir told in verse. It is about author Jacqueline Woodson’s childhood when she was growing up as a young African American girl in the 1960s and 70s, both in the South and in New York. It is a book about herself, her family, and the struggles of racial prejudice she experienced first or secondhand. But it’s mainly a book about the things in our childhood that shape and influence us into the people we are today. It’s a book about finding one’s place in life.

The free verse poems are beautiful. Some are short, some are long, but each is written in a thoughtful manner that is accessible for children, teens, and adults. This book is marketed as middle grade, but anyone of any age will be able to love and appreciate it. Jacqueline shares many facts and events from her life and tells them eloquently and with emotion. The book does not have a strict “plot”, nor is it laid out like a traditional story, but you have to remember that this is a unique memoir. The book does flow and there are ups and downs to read about. Basically, Brown Girl Dreaming is a really special book that tells the truth of a young girl’s life. I highly recommend it for its gorgeous writing and exceptional, important substance. ♦

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Have you read Brown Girl Dreaming?
If you haven’t, would you be interested to?
What’s a book you’ve read written in verse?
What’s the last memoir you’ve read?
Comment below letting me know!
And, as always, happy reading!

Follow me @ toweroftomes on Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | and Bloglovin’!

The Sunday Post — September 6th, 2015 [#26] | Monthly Wrap-Up Edition: August 2015 [#12]

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

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Last week on the blog:

    

• On Sunday, I posted last-last week’s Sunday Post.
• On Monday, I Mused about how my reading habits have changed since book blogging.
• On Tuesday, I reviewed Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee.
• On Wednesday, I posted my September 2015 TBR list.
• On Thursday, I reviewed Manga Classics: Pride and Prejudice and Manga Classics Les Miserables.
• On Friday, I reviewed The Cage by Megan Shepherd.
• On Saturday, I posted a DNF review on Hunter by Mercedes Lackey.