The Halloween Book Tag

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And I'm back with another Halloween Book Tag! 

(Actually The Halloween Book Tag.) 

I love Halloween. All the sweets/ chocolate, and just the atmosphere. 

(You can probably tell I haven't trick or treated in a number of years.) 

But I still enjoy doing these tags, and I hope you enjoy this too. 

~Favourite scary (must read) for Halloween?~

Although I won't be reading it this year (I have more books than usual), Sweetly was the first scary book I read and it still holds a special place in my heart, especially when October rolls around. Sweetly is basically a Hansel and Gretel retelling, but with some new themes thrown in. Two siblings used to be three, but one disappeared in the woods when they were children. A wonderful chocolatier, a sneaky deal with a werewolf, and some action with a gun. Even today, that sounds pretty exciting to me. 

~Scariest book cover, like ever~

I don't tend to choose the books I read for the scariness of the covers, but this one sends a shiver down my spine. Just the red balloon, the quote and the figure emerging from the darkness gives me the heebie-jeebies (not to mention, after reading the book, you can hear Pennywise's creepy voice saying the words himself). 

~If you could go trick-or-treating with any author, who would you pick?~

She seems awesome, her books are amazing, and I reckon she'd have some tricks up her sleeve to get a ton of sweets and chocolate. Why wouldn't I chose V.E. Schwab? Also, I really really would like to meet her. 

~If you could dress up as any bookish character for Halloween, who would it be?~

My answer will always be the same for this. Tall, athletic and blonde, an absolute legend of a character, Tanith Low from the Skulduggery Pleasant series. I just wish it wasn't so cold in October, so it's unlikely I'll ever go trick-or-treating dressed as her, but I'm all for dressing up as her for a Halloween party. (Maybe minus the knife though.) 

~If you could find anything (from any book) in your trick-or-treat stash, what would you hope to find?~

An obvious one is the time turner, so of course I'll go with that.

Of course, not to change the past, because "terrible things happen to wizards that meddle with time", but just to learn and see some of the greatest moments in history. And to read more, of course. 

~In what fictional world would you like to go trick-or-treating?~

Just let me have all that wonderful pumpkin flavoured goodness that I read about in this book! 

There are so many food stops, I think I'd have to go back a couple of days in a row to consume all of it. Here are some examples, to name a few: 

1. Chilli fries stand

2. Fudge shoppe

3. S'Mores pit

4. Pie palace and that's not even half of them! (I'm feeling hungry just thinking about them.)

~What book villain would you not like to meet alone in a dark alley on Halloween?~

Kaz. 

Despite being the protagonist and an actual good guy in this story, he's still a criminal mastermind. Being young and strong, I have no doubt that he'd slit my neck without a second thought if I were to meet him in a dark alley on Halloween. 

~Would you rather dress up as a vampire, zombie, werewolf, or shadowhunter?~

Shadowhunters. 

I just want to look awesome and badass like them.

~Pick a candy (just one) from Harry Potter that you would love to find in your stash?~

After much consideration, I'll go with the fizzing wizzbees! They're not mentioned a whole lot in the book but I've always been fascinated about what it is in these sweets that makes you fly.

~What is your favourie Halloween sweet?~

Honestly, I don't really have a favourite. My favourite part of trick-or-treating was going through my brother's stash, and him mine, so he could have my sweets, and I could have his chocolate. I was just out for of the chocolate on Halloween. 

Okay! That's the Halloween Book Tag! As always, I'm not going to tag anyone, because you should all be free to do it. 

I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeee! 

-Abi xxxx

Birthday Book Haul!

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And I'm here with a book haul. I obtained these books over the month of September and my week in Bristol and over that time I got a fair few books, which I would like to share with you! 

Without further ado, enjoy! 

1. Magnus Chase trilogy, by Rick Riordan 

Consists of: -The Sword of Summer 

-The Hammer of Thor

-The Ship of the Dead

I'm currently reading book one at the moment, and actually really enjoying it, despite this being the third Rick Riordan series I've started where the protagonist starts off completely oblivious to their parentage. Nothing against that start, I'm happy enough because it's Norse mythology as opposed to Greek, I've just read a lot of these kind of beginnings. 

It's actually more exciting to know nothing about anything to do with Norse mythology, (like I'm familiar with the Greek Gods names, likes Ares, Artemis and Apollo, but I have no idea what kind of characteristics to expect from the offspring of the Norse Gods). 

Looking forward to seeing what I think about this new series. 

2. Trials of Apollo series, by Rick Riordan 

Consists of: -The Hidden Oracle

-The Dark Prophecy 

-The Burning Maze

-The Tyrant's Tomb

-The Tower of Nero

Finished the first book a couple of days ago and I'm eager to continue on with the series. I imagine I've only scraped the surface with what's to come with this series, being five books and all, but I'm hoping that the second book is as well received as book 1 has been. (If you didn't know, this series is about the god Apollo being turned completely human and having to go on quests and complete missions in order to earn back his godliness status- the egotistical comments have me biting my lip to keep from laughing too much.) 

3. Endgame (Noughts and Crosses #6), by Malorie Blackman 

Endgame is the sixth and final book in the Noughts and Crosses series, my absolute favourite-of-all-time series that will never be replaced. Honestly, I had no clue that this would be out as soon as it was, and I was elated to see it casually sitting in Waterstones one day. Although I desperately want to jump straight into this (no doubt fantastic story), as it's the final book in the series, I think I'll re-read the earlier books before I start this. And I'm not going to do that until I read the series above, so Endgame might be on this list for a while. 

4. Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating, by Adiba Jaigirdar 

Honestly, one of the reasons I picked this up because it was on the BOGOHP shelf in Waterstones a few weeks back. Of course, that's not the main reason I picked it up. I remember loving The Henna Wars by the same author last year, and I knew it would be the perfect book to pick up, if I needed a light, well-written romance. 

I really want to get to this soon so hopefully it won't be stuck collecting dust in my pile of unread books in January. 

5. One Last Stop, by Casey McQuiston 

Casey McQuiston grabbed everyone's attention with her debut novel, Red White and Royal Blue. This book won a couple of Goodreads Awards too. That book didn't really appeal to me for some reason, but this one did. Upon seeing it in a bookshop, I inclined to pick it up. 

I don't even know much about this, other than it's an LGBT romance about a girl stuck in a time loop, on a train and another girl wanting to help. Honestly I don't need to know anything else to know that this is a book I need to read, soon. 

6. Paper Girls, Vol. 1, by Brian Vaughan 

I always said to myself, when I was reading all of the Rick Riordan series' this year, that the Paper Girls graphic novel series was going to be the next series I would pick up afterwards. And now I've got the first volume to get me started! 

All I know about this series is that it's about a group of girls, tough girls, that have a newspaper, but stumble upon "the most important story of all time." 

On halloween. 

Halloween. 

Personally, I think it's something supernatural. In which case, these couple of months is the perfect time to pick this up. 

I'm excited if you can't tell. 

Okay! Those are all the books that I've bought recently! 

I'm currently 11 books away from completing my Goodreads goal, and most of these books will be part of that list this year, without a doubt. 

I guess I'm kind of done buying books this year... 

Which is... fine. 

Kind of. 

Okay! I hope you have a wonderful evening, and I'll see you all very soon! 

Byeeee! 

-Abi xxxxx

Carrie, by Stephen King

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And today I'm back with another review! 

I picked this book up for my Buy a book to mark a place thing in Bristol last week, and I just got sucked into it! (I should really make a list or buy a map for that at some point.) 

It was a short read, but I had a number of thoughts that I would like to write about. 

Without further ado, enjoy! 

Title: Carrie

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Horror

Release date: 5/4/1974

Status: Standalone

Pages: 242

Blurb: "Carrie White has a gift- the gift of telekinesis. 

To be invited to Prom Night by Tommy Ross is a dream come 

true for Carrie- the first step towards social acceptance by 

her high school colleagues.

But events will take a decidedly macabre turn on that 

horrifying and endless night as she is forced to exercise her

terrible gift on the town that mocks and loaths her."

My Thoughts

I've been thinking and thinking about how to start this review for the past couple of days and I still have no idea. So I'm just going to start, and hope for the best. 

Reading Carrie, I was surprised by how well written it was, especially considering this was King's debut novel. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I've read some of his other works that he's released since, and I can see how much he's grown as a writer, but I was surprised by how flawlessly the story was constructed. 

The best part was that, even though it was a severely short book, there was so much packed into it. There was a lot of jumping from different POV's, quotes, research (one of the POV's was documenting Carrie's telekinesis) but it was never hard to keep track of what was going on. Who you were reading about, what was going on, it was all very easy to follow and understand. 

The centre of the story for me, was Carrie. A lonely girl who was driven to breaking point. Isolated and humiliated for years by the girls in her year, as well as her satanic mother, we follow Carrie, during the horrendous shower room incident, her discovering her telekinesis powers, the build-up to the prom and the inevitable destroying of the town. 

Throughout that night, I was between two point of views. How terrifying it must be to find yourself in a traumatic event like, the town and everyone you care about being killed, and reading about lonely girl finally getting her revenge on the people that have made her miserable her entire life. 

But the sad part about it is, that if someone, anyone, had shown her some kindness, or treated her like a person, then maybe it wouldn't have gone as far as it did. 

Although most kids don't have telekinesis powers (at least I hope not) the bullying that takes place in this book still takes place today. What this book shows is what a few seemingly harmless comments can do to a person, and also what a bit of kindness can do as well. 

Overall, a wonderfully well-written novel by the phenomenal Stephen King, back at the start of his writing career. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this (read the whole thing in 2-3 days) and I'm glad I finally got to it. If you're on the fence about whether to read this book or not, then I would definitely say to give it a try. 

Okay! Those are my thoughts and feelings about Carrie, I hope you enjoyed it, and as always, feel free to comment what you thought about it too! 

I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeeee! 

-Abi xxxxx

September Wrap Up & October TBR (2021)

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And I'm back with my wrap up and TBR for October. 

I didn't post, or read a lot either, which is why I'm putting these two together. 

But I'm back, and hopefully with a more persistant schedule. 

Enjoy! 

September Wrap Up (2021) 

I read a total of three books in the month of September. 

I'm not gonna lie, it just wasn't on my list of priorities for September. 

But that's okay! 

Here are the books I read last month. 

1. Red Sky Burning (The Circle Trilogy #2), by Teri Terry 

The second book in The Circle Trilogy series. Although I liked the direction the story was going, there weren't enough highs and lows in the story (or at least as drastic and intense as I like to read about in Tery Terry's stories). We met some more characters and it was a nice book, getting from the end of book 1 and the start of the third and final book, but it took me a while to get through. 3/5 stars. 

2. Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng

Going into this, I was excited to venture into something I don't usually pick up. This centres around a chinese-american family living in Ohio in the 1970s, I think. Anyway, the whole family are thrown into chaos when the Lee parents eldest daughter is found dead. It jumps from past events, leading up the Lydia's death, to the aftermath, and the Lee family struggling to come to terms with it. 

The transition to the different time periods was flawless, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is the kind of story that says a lot without many words, as it's a fairly short book, under the 400 page mark. Looking forward to picking up Little Fires Everywhere soon. 

3. You and Me on Vacation, by Emily Henry 

No problems with this one. Just as enjoyable a read as Beach Read, which I read just under a year ago. Solid, likeable characters, great chemistry between Poppy and Alex, which I enjoyed immensely. If you're looking for a nice and easy summer read (or winter if you feel like it, heck I read this in September and Beach Read in October). 

Wonderfully light and well-written. 

October TBR (2021)

I'm still not sure how many of these I'm actually going to finish this month, but I'll set up an ambitious TBR anyway, because why not? 

1. To Kill A Mockingbird Graphic Novel, by Harper Lee 

I'm just over halfway through this at the moment and it's so good! It's on my book bucket list, and the first one I'll get to cross off as completed. 

To Kill A Mockingbird is just one of those books that you have to read before you die, this book is timeless and I'm so glad to finally be reading it. Thoughts in this month's wrap up (or even a review? Not sure yet.) 

2. The Appeal, by Janice Hallett 

This was given to me by a colleague a few days ago after we both enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club a few months ago. I don't like to keep borrowed books too often, so I've stuck it on my TBR for the month (even though it's quite the chunker at 445 pages, so I'm not sure how long it'll take me to read it- especially in my current reading state) but I'm willing to give it a go. 

I know absolutely nothing about this book other than what's on the front cover. One murder, fifteen suspects and honestly, that's all I need to know. You could say that this is a book that's outside my usual genre bubble, which I'm looking forward to tackling once more. 

Let's see how I get on. 

3. Carrie, by Stephen King

I'm currently in Bristol for the week, and I chose Carrie for my (buy a book to mark a place) thing considering it's a short read, and one that I've meaning to get to since I posted my All the Stephen King Books I Want To Read post. I'm hoping I'll be able to get through it quickly before the month is out, because I've seen both films and enjoyed both. Carrie is actually Stephen King's debut, so I'm looking forward to seeing where he was at the start of his published works. Another potential review. 

4. Trials of Apollo series, by Rick Riordan 
(Which consists of:

1.The Hidden Oracle

2. The Dark Prophecy 

3. The Burning Maze

4. The Tyrant's Tomb 

5. The Tower of Nero)

5. Magnus Chase trilogy, by Rick Riordan 

(Which consists of:

1. The Sword of Summer

2. The Ship of the Dead

3. The Hammor of Thor)

I stuck all of these on my TBR for the month of September and obviously I didn't manage to get to them. These two series are the only ones I have left to read before I'm up to date with all of Rick Riordan's books so they're being tacked on to the end of this month's too. I won't be reading them in series order, because they take place at the same time, which I have researched and worked out. 

Okay! That's all I have for you today! I appreciate this was a long post so thankyou to the people that stuck around to the end. 

I hope you enjoyed the content and as always, feel free to post what you'll all be reading this month, whether it's summer romances or spooky halloween-ish reads, like me! 

I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeee! 

-Abi xxxxx