We Have Instagram!

So, incase you awesome lot did not know, we have instagram!

It would be A M A Z I N G if you could all check it out (and maybe follow if you feel like it ;))! Ely and I have been discussing being more active on different social media and of course, this includes the lovely Instagram!


Hopefully you will enjoy the lovely content that we post. You'll be updated on what we post on the blog, what we receive for review, what we are reading now and a whole lot more!

Click here to check it out.

BOOK EVENT TIPS | What to bring.

Now I’ve been to several book events in my time: Cassandra Clare, Maggie Stevater, John Marsden, Alyson Noel, Ruby Circle Launch party, Every Move launch and many others. With going to these events you tend to pick up a few things that you need for the next time you go to a book event again.

Bring your camera: Trust me, you are seriously going to regret it if you leave your camera at home! Book events are great for extra blog content and no one likes chunks and chunks of words without a picture or two. If you are lucky, you might even have the opportunity to take a picture with an author! Trust me, you don’t want to be camera-less in those situations. I’ve had nightmares where I meet celebrities without having anything to document it with. You can vlog too!

Bring a snack: You never know if there is going to be food there or how long you will be there for. You could be like Ely and I who only went to the Ruby Circle launch for the food that wasn’t present (we hadn’t read the book but we also wanted to support Richelle lovely Mead). I recommend a non-messy food so it doesn’t get all over your books in your bag. For example, a muesli bar or a small child (Only for cannibals).

Bring money: It’s a bookstore, you need money to buy books. Or if your like Ely on a book buying ban, don’t bring money, because YOU WILL buy books and YOU MAY regret it.

Wear comfortable shoes (Ely’s tip): You never know, there might not be seats and you might have to stand up for the whole time. If you do, come prepared.

Water: Just trust me. If you are not thirsty for some books, you will be thirsty for some water.

Bring a comfortable bag: Don’t be that awkward person (me) who brings a bag that is the most uncomfortable thing ever. Bring a big bag for books like a tote (do you see a trend here?) but not a huge handbag with twenty different pockets and awkward handles so that you will most likely create red welts when you hang it on your shoulder. Just something easy on the shoulders and something that is spacious.

Book/s: Bring the books that you are going to get signed if it is an author event(Or just have a random book to read if you are waiting in a line, because you will most likely be waiting in a line at least one point at the event). Sometimes, there are limitations on how many books you can get signed. For example, I went Cassandra Clare book event and we were only allowed to get three books signed. Most of the time, it is three books.I would bring at least two. And also, sometimes they would like you to buy a book to support the book store so make sure you get there relatively early so your not waiting in too many lines.

Portable phone charger: TRUST ME. THIS SAVES ME EVERYTIME.

And finally, this is not really an object, but dress up to the type of book event. Seriously, don’t be afraid to dress up as a Vampire/werewolf or alien because most likely, there will be costume competition, and there will be prizes, and who doesn’t like free merchandise?

Blogaversary Month!

Hey Everyone!

So it has been a while since I’ve posted on the blog. I’m not sure if I have fully explained my situation but i’ll aim to do a post on that very soon! So, as you all probably or hopefully know, this month is Ely and I’s blogaversary! 

I am pretty sure that both Ely and I had no idea that this blog would turn into what it has. We started the blog with absolutely no idea about the whole world. In that way, I am glad. Sometimes you just have to throw yourself into something before you realise what it all means.  And then, you have to just trudge on. You kind of have to block everyone out and just make the content. We barely had any views in the beginning and although some people might think we don’t have many now, we both believe that every single little view and comment is basically the whole entire world. We did that and It turned into something wonderful! With the help of you all and the existence of books I don’t know where we would be. But most of all, I would like to thank Ely. Like, for everything. 

To have not only an amazing blog partner but a  best friend like Ely is everything.

I don’t know how I could’ve done anything without her. I don’t even have words to describe who she is and what she has done to change me and even all of you. She is just the epitome of amazing. She is someone you can always rely on and will instantly make you feel ten times better. She’s the one you can invest all your secrets in and whine and cry and ball your eyes out about everything between books and all those personal irritable problems. She can also be the person who makes you cry, for example, with the amazing blogaversary post she posted earlier this month. My gosh, I was just gone two seconds into reading that. 

Then I have her on here. I’ve been extremely busy with Year 12 and she has been so considerate to help me through out it. She hasn’t blown her fuse once with my extreme business making me unable to post a lot. Truthfully, I don’t think this blog would be running as well as it is if she wasn’t my co blogger! She keeps this alive guys! I feel awfully guilty about that, but once this year is done, I will be back on the roll! *fingers crossed* . So, give her heaps of hugs and kisses!!

So Ely, I love you so so so ridiculously much! I really can’t imagine a world without you present. What’s a world without you, honestly? You mean everything to me and gosh, this is also getting really sappy! I am so thankful to have you as a best friend and I don’t think i could ever repay you for being my best friend. You. Are. Just. Amazing.

Last of all, I just wanted to thank you all again and again for taking time out of your day just to view our blog or pop down a comment below. Nothing ever goes unnoticed and you put the hugest smile on both of our faces.

Love you all 

xoxo

Chami

GENRE MATCH: YA TV SHOWS YOU WILL LOVE

"Genre Match," is a new segment in which we reveal the best Young Adult Television Shows to watch while your reading a book of the same genre. If you're just introducing yourself into the genre or if you've been a long time runner, it's a great way to see what shows are out there that might suit your taste. If you're a big fan of Mystery, then simply view the "Genre Match" post for "Mystery," and it will provide you with the best TV Shows that would suit your taste in that genre.'

Just follow the tag #GenreMatch to catch up on the posts. 

FINDING TIME TO READ #READINGPROBLEMS101

One thing that really bugs me is when people announce that they don’t read books because they don’t have time. That’s not a good enough reason. Seriously, it’s not. If you really wanted to read books you would make time for them. I bet you readers have heard that one before and want to stab me with a gun because shooting wouldn’t satisfy you.

Tip 1:

First, figure out if you’re a, “30 minute before bedtime,” “set aside a day,” or “on the go,” type of reader. Unfortunately, I’m the “set aside a whole day,” reader and if you are one, then it could be really hard for you to settle down with a book because of a busy schedule. The number one tip I have for you is the Friday Night Spree. Grab a book after school on Friday when nothing is due the next day, and read. Read through the night and to the early hours of the morning if that is the only time you have to read. Sleeping is important, I totally understand, but if you’re free the next day then Saturday sleep ins can still happen. No stopping you their buddy. Or develop the awesome habit of becoming Ely. I swear she breathes in words from the books she is reading without them being present.

Tip 2

I’m sure all of you readers find time to play games on your phone in breaks. Instead of playing games download ebooks into your phone. This reduces the weight of hardcopy books in your bag and provides a reading light for those dark times. I know not everyone is an ebook person and can’t break that attachment with amazingly smelling book paper. If that is the case, buy the hardcopy book and download the ebook if you’re not afraid to spend a bit more money or tumble through the Internet for free copies. Let’s just hope that someone makes scratch and sniff book cards for the smell and touch side of this.

Tip 3

Create a resistance towards the “reading a book in the car sickness.” You will find a whole lot of time goes wasted in there. On the other hand, if your driving, please, oh god, please don’t read a book while driving. Try an audiobook or something along those lines. If you are a parent, get your kid to read the book outloud to help with their fluency as well. I have never ever tried an audiobook but I’ll have to now.

So those are my lovely three tips of making time to read books. They are a bit drastic to all the other options, but I understand that not everyone can make their life that simple enough. I’m a bookoholic and I get super depressed if I don’t read a book for a while. Ely, I’m sure, would die without a book in walking distance and I’m standing right next to her.

And Remember: Books make time for you.

 XxChami

BOOK DISCUSSION: The Family of Books

Most of these book discussion posts focus solely on Chami and I, but today that's going to change. This post, in fact, is going to include my family and the types of books that they read.

So starting with dad. My dad works a lot and when he isn't working, he prefers to spend his time watching TV and films rather than reading. On top of this, he's an incredibly slower reader (it takes him about three months to read one book). Therefore, the only books my dad ever reads are either sport biographies or travel books, though he does have an extreme fondness for trivia books too, which is why our house is filled with them!

My brother is a very difficult reader to define. Throughout the years he's gone through different stages- when he was younger he used to read heaps, then as he grew older he completely stopped reading and declared that he hated it, but now, at almost twenty-one, he's decided he likes books again. As a child he used to read Harry Potter, Star Wars, Warhammer, Horrible Histories etc. but now he's starting reading John Green's books, Game of Thrones, History books- both fiction and non-fiction, Japanese books and even (to my absolute delight) classics. Surprisingly, he's even started giving me recommendations!

Aside from me, my mum has always been the biggest reader in our household and so she is absolutely the person that I picked my love for books up from. Over the years she's read a bit of everything- when she was my age she used to read a lot of classics and Agatha Christie books (both of which, I love more than anything), then as she got older she started reading books that focused more around Europe and travel (while she was travelling through Europe especially) and now she reads a variety of everything- like me, mystery/crime and historical novels are among her favourite which means we read a lot of the same books. Out of everyone in my life, my mum is definitely the person that I get recommendations off.


I hope you enjoyed this post for something a little different and if you'd like, leave a comment about the sorts of books that you and your family read! See you next time guys!

Book Appreciation Post

Hello BookLovers!

It's Chami here back with an update and inside a random post to convey my love of books. Now that i'm back again, i've decided to bestow you with the display of "What books make you feel," and some other random things.  

Xx Chami

HAUL: Ely's Christmas Books + More

Hello everyone! I have finally returned from the dark depths of Christmas preparations to be able to post here once again. As we promised in our little Christmas post, we will be much more active on the blog in January before we slow back down in Feburary as my last year of school and Chami's second last year of school starts. Anyway, that isn't important at the moment as today is my Christmas + other books haul!

My Grandma and Grandpa gave me a three pack of Agatha Christie novels with Miss Marple- ‘The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side’, ‘A Pocketful of Rye’ and ‘Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple’s Last Case’.

My mum gave me a copy of her favourite classic as a child – ‘I Can Jump Puddles’ by Alan Marshall and another detective/crime novel (you’ve probably noticed that I really like that genre) ‘The Lady in the Lake’ by Raymond Chandler.

  

My mum and dad also gave me beautiful hardback versions ‘The Raven Boys’ by Maggie Stiefvater and ‘Grimm Tales’ by Phillip Pullman. These two books have been on my ‘to-read’ list for ages.  

Also from my parents, I was given the last three books in  the Hush, Hush saga by Becca Fitzpatrick- ‘Silence’, ‘Crescendo’ and ‘Finale’. I read the first book a few months ago and after some nagging from Chami, I will finally get to read the rest of the series.

I received some more gifts- ‘One Thousand Names’ by Cecelia Ahern (one of my favourite authors) from my aunt and ‘Venom’ by Fiona Paul from my amazing friend Sam. You can see my review of Venom here, if you would like.

During the Boxing Day sales, I managed to pick up a number of books from all different places. Among those were ‘On a Dark Wing’ by Jordan Dane (this book is part of a challenge I set for myself that I will be posting about in the New Year, so look out for that!) and ‘The Lost Prince’ by Julie Kagawa.

I bought myself a couple of books with gift cards given to me by various people- the books I picked out were ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ by Stephen Chbosky (which I’ve already read and seen the movie), ‘Touch of Power’ by Maria V. Synder and ‘The Darkest Minds’ by Alexandra Bracken.

I also picked up two more classics to add to my ever-growing collection- ‘North and South’ by Elizabeth Gaskell and ‘The Complete Poems and Translations’ by Christopher Marlowe.

Crime/detective novel-wise, I picked up copies of ‘Knots and Crosses’ by Ian Rankin (as some more wider reading for my Literature class), ‘The Eyre Affair’ by Jasper Fforde and ‘Who Could That Be At This Hour?’ by Lemony Snicket (which I was inclined to buy though it is a children’s book due to my emotional attachment to Lemony Snicket’s ‘A Series of Unfournate Events’ books. The last book in that series came out way back in 2006 and I am still not ready to accept that it’s over.)

Today, I picked up another load of books that were only five dollars each (who can honestly resist cheap books?). The books are; ‘Alice Bliss’ by Laura Harrington (I read this a few months ago and adored it!), ‘The Distant Hours’ by Kate Morton and ‘Graveminder’ by Melissa Marr.

The other half of the books that I picked up were ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ by Jonathan Safran Foer, ‘Winter’s Shadow’ by M.J. Hearle (which was the first review ever posted on this blog- written by Chami which you can find here) and finally, ‘Glow’ by Amy Kathleen Ryan.

Finally, ‘The Hobbit’ is the book I am currently reading. My little Bilbo Baggins figurine is guarding my book from any trolls or goblins who might try and steal it! I am actually going to see the movie adaption tomorrow for a friend’s birthday so hopefully I’ll do a book and movie review once I’ve finished!

That’s all from me this time! Within the next few days I’ve got some pretty awesome posts lined up if I do say so myself so you should check back. I hope you are all enjoying your day/night!