My Favorite Debuts

Heylo! Today's post will be all about my favorite debuts that I've read in my life. These books are all absolutely wonderful, so let's get into the list!

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1. THE HATE U GIVE BY ANGIE THOMAS

[goodreads]

I'm sure just about anyone who's read this book would also put it in a list of their favorite debuts. Not only is The Hate U Give one of my favorite debuts, it's also one of my favorite books in general. I'd be EXTREMELY surprised if you haven't picked up this book already, so if that's your case...READ IT! It's absolutely incredible. Believe the hype, y'all.

2. A LIST OF CAGES BY ROBIN ROE

[goodreads]

I'm guessing if you've taken a look at my blog for even a couple of minutes you would find out very quickly that I am OBSESSED with this book. Like I said earlier with The Hate U Give, A List of Cages is one of my favorite debuts but it is also for sure one of my favorite books in general! I love this book. A lot. (Side note: also a beautiful cover.)

3. SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA BY BECKY ALBERTALLI

[goodreads]

Okay I cannot stop gushing about all these damn books in this post. BUT THEY'RE ALL SO FREAKING GOOD SO SNS ✌. But seriously I loved ALL of this book. I mean, it's gay, need I say more?

4. WONDER BY R.J. PALACIO

[goodreads]

Much like A List of Cages, I talk (and gush) about Wonder all. The. Time. On my blog, and I'm sure most of you guys are aware of this. Definitely tied for my favorite middle grade ever with Harry Potter, and that's saying something. Plus, it's the only book I've read that's got a main character with a facial deformity in it! On that topic, I think we really ignore that when speaking about diversity in books. It's definitely very important!

5. GEORGE BY ALEX GINO

[goodreads]

One of my favorite types of books...QUEER MIDDLE GRADE! There's so little of it and there just NEEDS to be more. This one specifically is about a trans fifth grader named Melissa, and she really wants to be Charlotte in the Charlotte's Web play that the fifth graders are doing. But when she tries out for the part, the teacher says she can't play Charlotte because she's a "boy." I'm so unbelievably glad I read George, and y'all for sure should too!!

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That's all for now! Let me know some of your favorite debuts that you've read in the comments below, and if you've read any of the books that I talked about in this post, make sure to leave your thoughts on them down in the comments as well! I think that pretty soon I'll do a Favorite Sequels post as a follow-up to this. I hope you enjoyed this post, and if so make sure to hit that follow button! Bye!!

4 Questions that I Have for Contemporary Books!

Hello! Way back in the day (aka April lol), I made a post called 4 Questions that I Have for Fantasy Books! and not only did I REALLY love making that post as it was so much fun, but you guys enjoyed it as well! So, I decided to make a sort-of-sequel to it for contemporary. Before I get into the list, I'd just like to say that most of these will be generalizations and stretches and totally hyperbolic, not ALL contemporaries are like this. Obviously.

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WHY ARE ALL YOUR MCs THE SAME?

Let's be honest. A lot of main characters in contemporary novels are very similar: the nerd who's never had a boyfriend before, but then something big happens like they move or go to college or something and true love ensues. Once again, many contemporaries do not in fact have this, but I'm just saying that a TON of them do.

WHY IS IT SO EASY TO FALL IN LOVE?

I demand justice. WHY CAN'T IT BE THIS EASY IN REAL LIFE? WHY CAN'T I FIND MY SOULMATE AT AGE SIXTEEN? HUH? WHY?

WHY IS AMNESIA SO CONVENIENT?

This is so annoying. Whenever the main character, typically a girl in this case, somehow becomes amnesic, she literally remembers nothing. Obviously. Because that's how amnesia works. But no. She remembers nothing except for either her boyfriend, or the boy she was in love with (and then the two fall in love, of course).

WHAT'S WITH THE WHOLE NO-BISEXUALITY THING?

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of books with bi main characters that most of the time get pretty good rep. The thing is, there are a sad amount of books where the character is so sure they're straight, and then they develop feelings for someone of the same gender and they're like "Well, I guess I'm gay." like yes, I do realize that that can happen sometimes and it turns into you're not into the opposite sex after all, but usually it doesn't mean that.

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And that's all for now! If you enjoyed this post please let me know in the comments which genre I should do next in this series as I really like doing these. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to subscribe! Bye!!

Interview with Hannah Bucchin, Author of Paintbrush!

Hey guys!! This post will be my first author interview on my blog, and I am happy to kick it off with Hannah Bucchin, the author of Paintbrush, which was released on July eleventh.

Also, there was one question that ended up having spoilers in the answer, so I'm not including it in the post. But, if you've read the book (which you TOTALLY SHOULD DO if you haven't) leave a comment saying that you'd like to see the question & answer and I'll reply to your comment with it.

Before I get into the interview, I'd like to thank Netgalley for allowing this to happen.

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Syd: When did you realize that you wanted to be an author/what made you want to be an author?

HB: I've loved writing since the first grade, and I've been writing ever since! I think the biggest influence on my love of writing has been my love of reading. I've been an avid reader since elementary school, and at some point my love of reading amazing stories translated into a dream to write amazing stories.

Syd: What inspired you to write Paintbrush?

HB: Paintbrush is a story inspired by place and setting - specifically, the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina where I now live. The first few times I visited the area, I was struck by the unique culture of this place: hippie and country all rolled into one. The setting of Paintbrush was imagined during one of my visits, and the characters and story all took shape from there.

Syd: How long did it take to write Paintbrush?

HB: It took me five months to finish the first draft from start to finish, and then the publishing, rewriting, and editing process took roughly another year to complete.

Syd: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

HB: Start writing now! If there's an idea you've been tossing around or a story you just can't get out of your head, don't wait - sit down every day and start writing, even if it's only for ten minutes a day. If you wait until you have more time, or your schedule is less busy, or inspiration strikes, you might be waiting forever.

Syd: What's your writing process like?

HB: I try to write a rough outline with a distinct beginning scene, middle scene, and ending scene. I usually sketch out further details as well, but those always end up changing. Then, I start! For me, so much of the story comes to me while I'm writing. The best thing for me to do is sit down and write.

Syd: What's the first book that made you cry?

HB: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (You know what I'm talking about.)

Syd: What's your writing Kryptonite?

HB: THE INTERNET. I'm sure every writer can relate. Or anyone who has ever tried to accomplish anything ever. I turn off my wifi when I write - otherwise I'll get sucked into looking at my sister's friend's cousin's wedding pictures on Instagram, or reading Blake Lively's entire wikipedia page, or watching videos of pugs trying to swim, or any number of other totally useless things.

Syd: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

HB: Just keep going! There are so many projects I've started and then stopped halfway through because I decided it wasn't good enough. I'd tell my younger writing self that rewriting and editing are always options - but you can't rewrite and edit something unless you finish your first draft. (This is actually good advice for my present-day writing self as well.)

Syd: What is your favorite under-appreciated book?

HB: When people talk about Sarah Dessen, they most often talk about The Truth About Forever, Just Listen, Along for the Ride, etc. And those books are all amazing. But I don't hear people often talk about Keeping the Moon, which is one of my favorites. So much of that book is about confidence and learning to see yourself in a positive light. I first read it in high school when I really needed to hear those messages so it's always resonated strongly with me. And it definitely doesn't get enough love!

Syd: How do you think of names for your characters?

HB: Usually, when I'm imagining a character, a name will just come to me and stick. It's not that I pick my favorite names or name my characters after real-life people or anything - it's more that once I imagine a name for a certain character, it's practically impossible to imagine them as anything else.

Syd: Do you read reviews for your own books? If so, how do you deal with bad or good ones?

HB: I read all the reviews! I like to know if people connected to the story. Even the bad ones can be helpful (usually). And I try not to let bad reviews get me down - like every book, Paintbrush is not for everyone!

Syd: Do you ever Google yourself?

HB: Occasionally! However, the results are not usually very exciting. But maybe that's a good thing.

Syd: What is your favorite childhood novel?

HB: Too many to choose! Harry Potter series, Ella Enchanted, the Alice books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Matilda by Roald Dahl, and Because of Winn-Dixie were some of my very favorites.

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And that's all for now! Again, I'd like to thank Netgalley and Hannah for giving me the opportunity to do this. Like I said earlier, if you've read the book leave a comment saying you'd like to see the question & answer, and I'll reply to your comment with it. Make sure you get yourself a copy of and read Paintbrush!! Bye guys!

Why Fantasy is My Favorite Genre

Hey guys! This is going to be a pretty short post but I thought this would be a really fun idea, which of course by the title you can tell it is explaining why fantasy is my favorite genre!

WHY FANTASY IS MY FAVORITE GENRE

I love fantasy more than other genres because I can get lost in the world of the book even when the real world isn't very nice.

I love fantasy more than other genres because I believe it is the most creative type of book.

I love fantasy more than other genres because I can sit and read a fantasy book for hours on end and not get bored of the plot.

I love fantasy more than other genres because you can do anything you want with it and you don't have to worry about it being realistic. Like Patrick Rothfuss said when talking about fantasy: "Want to throw in a vampire and a lesbian unicorn while you're at it? Go ahead."

I love fantasy more than other genres because honestly, I think it's the most entertaining.



And that's it for now! I really hope you enjoyed reading this. If you liked this and you haven't made a post/video doing something similar to this, I highly recommend you do! It's a ton of fun. Anyway, bye!

What my Rating System is Like (+ Examples!)

Hey guys! So, I originally saw this video from Cece (from Problemsofabooknerd, I'd be surprised if you haven't checked her out yet, and if you haven't you definitely should!) and I thought it was a really awesome idea, so I'll be doing my own version of it today (I'll be going from bottom upwards)!

**I know everyone hates the disclaimer but I have to put it: when I add my examples, there's no need to hate me because I didn't like a book you liked or because I liked a book you didn't like. We're all entitled to our own opinons and it's awesome.

ONE-STAR

A one-star read for me means that I absolutely, positively HATED this book to hell and back. I could not find a single thing about it that I enjoyed, or maybe there was one little thing that I liked, but the rest of it was just so fucking horrible that it still got a one-star.

Examples: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

ONE AND A HALF STARS

A 1.5-star book is very rare for me, because if I am really not enjoying a book, it's probably going to be pretty hard to find something that I actually enjoyed, but I did, and that's why I gave the book 1.5 stars.

Examples: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles

TWO STARS

If I rate a book two stars, it probably means that the book definitely wasn't the greatest. I didn't end up enjoying most of it, but maybe there was one element (i.e., the writing, the characters, the plot, etc.) that I did like, but pretty much, I wasn't the biggest fan of it.

Examples: Bone Gap by Laura Ruby, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

TWO AND A HALF STARS

For me, a 2.5-star book isn't very much different than a two-star book. Usually, when I rate something 2.5-stars, something like "I liked the writing, but I didn't like the plot or characters excpept for one." Or "I liked the characters, but I wasn't a huge fan of the writing or the plot except for around page 300."

Examples: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, The Call by Peadar O'Guilin

THREE STARS

I always find three-star reads harder to explain and review, because they're just right in the middle. Personally, there's not much better of an explanation for a three-star book than "meh." It wasn't exactly good, but it wasn't bad either.

Examples: Paper Towns by John Green, City of Saints And Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson

THREE AND A HALF STARS

A 3.5-star read in my book is pretty damn good. It was really, really close to a four-star, but there was something holding me back from giving it that. Maybe it a was a plot-drag, maybe it was a character I didn't like, I don't know.

Examples: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Legend by Marie Lu

FOUR STARS

A four-star rating is my most commonly-used rating, which I would think is a good thing, because four-stars are great! A super solid read that I will for sure keep on my shelf and maybe even reread. But there was just SOMETHING that made me NOT give it a five-star.

Examples: To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han, The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid

FOUR AND A HALF STARS

Whoo-ee, this book was so fuckin' good! Like oh my God I just loved this book so MUCH!!
But.
There was just some teeny tiny thing that stopped me from giving it a five-star. If this were me a little while ago, I probably would've just given it five stars, but now I'm a lot more picky and critical.

Examples: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, George by Alex Gino

FIVE STARS

OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD. I ABSOLUTELY ADORED THIS BOOK WITH ALL MY HEART. I EITHER CANNOT FIND ANY FLAWS OR THERE IS ONE FLAW, BUT THE REST OF IT IS JUST SO FUCKING GOOD THAT I STILL GIVE IT FIVE STARS.
This is definitely a book that sticks with me and is most likely a favorite.

Examples: Wonder by R.J. Palacio, A List of Cages by Robin Roe


And that's it for now! Tell me anything about your own rating system in the comments below. I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading! Bye guys!

4 Questions that I Have for Fantasy Books!

Hello everyone! The other day I thought of this idea for a post that I'm almost positive no one has done before: questions I have for fantasy books! Because as much as I love them, there's some weird shit that happens in them. I'll try not to ramble as much as possible, but we'll see how that turns out.

WHY ARE ALMOST ALL YOUR BOOKS BIG ENOUGH TO INJURE SOMEONE?

Seriously! This may be a bit of an unpopular opinion but I actually like it when a book has those thin bible pages. It's probably because a few years ago, I accidentally dropped my hardcover copy of Order of the Pheonix (we all know how long that book is) on my keyboard and my W key fell off (I know, I know. A scary situation.), but still.

WHY MUST YOU HAVE SUCH LONG CHAPTERS?

Guys, you don't even know how much I despise long chapters. It's just terrible when you have to stop in the middle of a chapter, and then when you come back find the paragraph you stopped at. I know that that's not really a big deal, BUT IT IS FOR ME ALL RIGHT.

WHAT'S WITH YOUR REPETITIVE LACK OF DIVERSITY?

It's great we're getting more diversity in books, obviously, but about 90% of the time, it's in contemporary! Don't get me wrong, I love contemporary, but in fantasy, there's not much diversity included too often. *cough* SARAH J. MAAS *cough*

WHY ARE YOUR CHARACTER NAMES SO WEIRD?

Like yes, I get it, it's fantasy. You want your characters to be ~different.~ BUT WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT IN A DIFFERENT WAY (like personality-wise)??? I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO MAKE MY INNOCENT TONGUE TIE IN A TERRIBLE KNOT EVERY TIME A CHARACTER (or characters) IS BROUGHT UP.


And that's it for now, guys! I hope you enjoyed this, and if you did I could for sure do a part two eventually! Thanks for reading; bye!

5 Least Favorite Books OF ALL TIME

Hello everyone! Before I get into this post, I would like to put a disclaimer: JUST BECAUSE MY OPINION MAY DIFFER FROM YOURS DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD HATE ME, BECAUSE IT'S AN OPINION. IF I DON'T LIKE YOUR FAVORITE BOOK, IT DOESN'T MEAN I HATE YOU.

Whew, well now that that's out of the way, here are my LEAST FAVORITE BOOKS I have EVER read, going in order of how unpopular to how popular the book is.

1. SEEDFOLKS BY PAUL FLEISCHMAN

Okay, this one's super random, but I remember that I had to read this for school in sixth grade and absolutely hated it.

2. ENDER'S GAME BY ORSON SCOTT CARD

Okay, so not only does the plot and characters suck, but I felt like a lot of Orson Scott Card's ideas (you know... all that shit) were in this book as well.

3. THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH BY NORTON JUSTER

I remember I picked this up when I was about ten years old or so, and I HATED it. I don't really remember WHY other than it was super repetitive.

4. ME BEFORE YOU BY JOJO MOYES

Okay, so not only is the writing pretty bland and the characters are pretty terrible, but there is a LOT of ableism, which you've probably heard about.

5. THRONE OF GLASS BY SARAH J. MASS

I know I've mentioned this on my blog in the past, but seriously. I hate this so much. AAH. Please don't hate me. We all have opinions okay??? I, personally, was not a fan at ALL of the characters or the tropes (mainly love triangle UGH) and I thought the setting and writing to be not be too great either.

Well, that's it for now! I hope you enjoyed this post and don't want to come after me because I hate your favorite book. If you guys wanted me to, I could do a second part to this to be completely honest, but maybe soon I'll do a favorite books and/or series list because that's a lot nicer. Anyways, bye!

Favorite Books of the Year So Far!

Hello everyone! Just so you know, later in the year, I plan on doing a "Favorite Books of the Year" list, but also, every 3 months I will be doing a list of my favorites in those 3 months. At the end of the year, where I share my favorite books of the entire year, some of these might repeat because THEY'RE JUST SO GOOD. Anyways, here's some awesome books I've read this year (in no particular order):

1. A LIST OF CAGES BY ROBIN ROE

Holy crap, I loved this book so much. The thing about it is that it got a TON of hype in the book community when it first came out, but now no one really ever talks about it. AND PEOPLE SHOULD, because this book is freaking amazing (by the way, I won't really be telling what these books are about). I really adored that it focused on friendship, not romance. And I also adored everything else about this (y'all can tell this will be on my favorites of the year list, can't you).

2. A MONSTER CALLS BY PATRICK NESS

Oh don't mind me over there, that little punctured ball of feels in the corner.

3. THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR BY NICOLA YOON

Yes, I get it - this is FULL of insta-love. BUT I DON'T CARE BECAUSE I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK, OK. And I loved it way, way more than Everything, Everything. I enjoyed everything about this: from the plot, to the characters, to the writing style, and everything in between.

4. THE SHADES OF MAGIC SERIES BY V.E. SCHWAB

Last month, I reread ADSOM, and just recently I finished AGOS and loved it even more. Now, I still haven't read ACOL yet... *hangs head in shame* but from what I've heard I'm going to have to PREPARE MYSELF.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli - I would count this as an actual favorite, but I reread it this year; I originally read it in 2016. I'm guessing all of you have read or at least heard of this book so I won't explain what it's about, and if you don't know what it's about, here's the Goodreads page.

El Deafo by Cece Bell - I just finished this two nights ago and read it in one sitting. It was so great! It's a graphic memoir on Cece Bell's life, growing up deaf.

George by Alex Gino - Gosh my love for this book. Later I might edit this post and change it to a favorite and not just an honorable mention. I feel like this is a book where it's better when you go in blind, so an extremely vague synopsis would be: it's about a trans girl named George and IT'S A MIDDLE GRADE. *squeals*

Well, that's it for now! I hope you enjoyed this. Bye!

10 (I Know it's Supposed to be 25 but That's too Hard OK) Bookish Facts About Me!

Hello everyone! Today, as you can tell by the title, I will be doing the 10 BOOKISH FACTS ABOUT ME tag! I see a lot of people, whether they be booktubers or bloggers, do this tag when they first start out, so I decided to do that today. Also, I'll try not to ramble as much as possible, but we'll see how that goes.

1. HARDCOVERS OVER PAPERBACKS, 98% OF THE TIME.

Not only do hardcovers look SO MUCH PRETTIER and can stay in good condition for a longer time, but at least for me, I can read them a lot more easily. The other 2% of the time when I will purposely buy a paperback is when I have to go on a plane, or when I really really really NEED a book but I can't afford it in hardcover.

2. DUST JACKETS OFF OF HARDCOVERS WHILE READING THEM.

Well, first of all, I don't want to ruin them because they're almost always DOWNRIGHT GORGEOUS, and also, they just bother me while I'm reading them. OR the book has a TERRIBLE cover and I don't want people seeing me with it (kind of a bad reason, but still).

3.  I AM AN EXTREMELY SLOW READER.

I don't know what it is, I'm just a slow reader. If I can read 5 books in a month, that'd be AMAZING.

4. I JUDGE BOOKS BY THEIR COVERS ALL THE TIME.

I mean, first off, I don't get why people say "don't judge a book by its cover" because if ya didn't know, THE WHOLE POINT OF A COVER IS TO ATTRACT YOU. OF COURSE YOU JUDGE IT. okay i'm getting too over reactive about this.

5.  I HATE WHEN I HAVE TO PUT A DISCLAIMER.

Gosh, I hate when I do something like the unpopular opinions book tag and have to put a disclaimer so people don't hate me. IT'S JUST MY OPINION. AHHHHHH.

6. I BUY BOOKS I ALREADY OWN.

Sometimes, I see a COLLECTOR'S FREAKING EDITION of one of my favorite books and I just NEED to have it, for example. Like Tor just announced that in October there will be a collector's edition of A Darker Shade of Magic coming out with an exclusive short story and fan art AND IT HAS A BEAUTIFUL BLACK COVER. I WOULD SHOW IT HERE BUT IT WAS LITERALLY ANNOUNCED TODAY (March 24th).

7. I BUY BOOKS WAYYYY FASTER THAN I READ THEM.

Gah, I WISH I DIDN'T DO THIS. Seriously, I buy so many books, and I don't read them nearly as fast. AND SOMETIMES I GET BOOKS FROM THE LIBRARY EVEN WHEN I HAVE LIKE 100 BOOKS THAT I OWN THAT I ALSO HAVEN'T READ YET.

8. I AM THE WORST AT READING SUPER HYPED BOOKS.

*cries* WHY DO I DO THIS. Here are but a few super hyped books that I have yet to read:

• The last three books of the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
• An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
• The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (but I just got it from the library so yay)
• Everything by  V.E./Victoria Schwab other than the Shades of Magic series
• AND SO MUCH MORE.

9. I BREAK INTO A SWEAT WHEN I'M ASKED MY FAVORITE BOOK.

I'm sure y'all can relate to this. JUST ONE??? WHAT???

10. I AM TERRIBLE AT THINKING OF THINGS FOR THIS LIST.

Well, there's not much to say for this one - I'm so bad at it I had to use this for my last fact, and originally it's supposed to be 25, not 10. I'm just that bad at it.

And that's it for now! I hope you enjoyed this post. Bye!

3 of My Dream Book-to-Movie Adaptations!

Hello everyone! Today, unlike yesterday's post, I'll be doing something a lot more casual, as you can tell by the title: some book-to-movie adaptations I wish would happen! There's not much more else to say, so let's just get right on into it!

1. SIX OF CROWS BY LEIGH BARDUGO. [goodreads]

Honestly, I have no idea why this hasn't been optioned for a movie yet. It would make such an amazing one! It's just so full of action, and it really felt like an actual movie while I was reading it, which I'm sure a lot of you can agree on.

2. A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC BY V.E. SCHWAB [goodreads]

This could do so freaking well if it were adapted to the big screen. In fact, I have heard some rumors about this actually becoming a movie ... but it's not official, at least not yet. Anyways, I just think this would translate super well as a movie, and I'm honestly wondering why it hasn't even been optioned until now.

3. PASSENGER BY ALEXANDRA BRACKEN. [goodreads]

Now, I wasn't the BIGGEST fan of this book, but the main reason why is because it was so. Freaking. Slow. Paced. In the beginning, and a movie version of this would make it a LOT less boring in the first part of it, and then we could get into the actual EPIC TIME TRAVEL SCAVENGER HUNT STUFF later.

And that's it for now! I hope I'm not that one person that actually noticed how BEAUTIFUL ALL THE COVERS OF THESE BOOKS ARE. Bye everyone!