Avatar: The Last Airbender Book Tag

I was beyond excited when I saw this book tag over on the Sassy Book Geek. I’m a fan of Avatar: the Last Airbender and often rewatch the series to immerse myself in the world and revisit the characters. It was such a great show, and I wish the original had continued. Since it didn’t, I’ve taken to collecting the comics in the huge hardcover bind-ups because the creators and artists share their thoughts about the creative process alongside the comics, which I think is pretty cool and hope will give me more insight into the story and characters.

Avatar Korra was nice too, but nothing can beat the original. I love that both kids and adults can watch and gain much from it. The story imparts lessons without forcing it on viewers and it didn’t take itself too seriously.

By the way, if you’re interested in hearing how the idea for this show came about and the creative process behind it, I highly recommend this episode of the Nick Animation Podcast, which features an interview with Avatar: the Last Airbender creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino.

Oh! And this tag was created by booktuber A Clockwork Reader. Okay, let’s start! 😀

Water

Katara and Sokka: Best sibling relationship

I love these two, especially Sokka. He’s my favorite character. 😀 And Katara is such a kind-hearted badass. 😉

“Sky in the Deep” by Adrienne Young

Hey now! Here’s another read that I was surprised to enjoy. I loved the beginning but then the story took a turn that made me worry that I wouldn’t like it. But by the end, I thought it was good.

Genre:

Fantasy; historical

Pubbed:

April 2018

Goodreads summary:

Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield — her brother, fighting with the enemy — the brother she watched die five years ago.

Faced with her brother’s betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.

“Providence” by Caroline Kepnes

I seem to be saying this a lot lately, but when I read the synopsis for this story, I truly didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I submitted a request for the ARC through Netgalley only because of the author’s name.

I read Kepnes’s first novel, You, about 2 years ago and loved it. You is a thriller about a man stalking a woman that is told in the second-person from the stalker’s perspective. It’s the only story I’ve read at such a length in the second-person narrative and didn’t feel annoyed by it. And the protagonist, Joe, has stuck in my mind ever since. I think Kepnes has a talent for developing strong characters that will stay with the reader long after completing the story. In Providence, the character who has stuck with me is Eggs.

Genre:

Mystery; paranormal

Pubbed:

June 19, 2018

Goodreads summary:

A propulsive new thriller about the obsessive nature of love when an intensifying relationship between best friends is disrupted by a kidnapping.

Growing up as best friends in small-town New Hampshire, Jon and Chloe are the only ones who truly understand each other, though they can never find the words to tell one another the depth of their feelings. When Jon is finally ready to confess his feelings, he’s suddenly kidnapped by his substitute teacher who is obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and has a plot to save humanity.

Book Haul #45 (cont’d): Borrowed Things

…and free things as well.

The first part of this book haul got a bit long because of how chatty I am, so I had to break it up in two. This part will feature all the stuff I borrowed from the library and things I got on Free Comic Book Day, which was a success for me this year because I made the effort to get up early and go to the store to get the selections I want.

**Note: Titles below are linked to Goodreads. But if I’ve read and posted a review of a book, I’ll link to my review.

Borrowed

Physical books

First of all, I got myself a Stranger Things Funko Pop. 😀 That’s Dustin, who’s my favorite character in the show.

Weekend Reads #87: Favorite Things

Weekend Reads is a weekly post in which I discuss a variety of topics and mention the books I plan to read on the weekend.

Since I couldn’t think of a topic for this weekend, and I haven’t done one of these Favorite Things posts in a while, I’ve decided to do the My Favorite meme that was created by Maureen of Maureen’s Books. Basically, Maureen posts a topic each week and then we publish a post stating what our favorite thing of that topic is.

My favorite…

…childhood movie:

Book Haul #45: Bought Things

And here’s my third book haul for the year. I think I’m doing well, though these haul posts are usually long. But despite the length, the majority of books are often free or borrowed from the library, I think. I haven’t bought that many books this year, compared to other years, which is good because once again I’ve ran out of space.

Purchases

Physical books

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus

I loved the movie and was elated when I heard a novelized version would be published. I immediately placed it on hold at my library and was one of the first patrons to receive a digital copy. But then I did a stupid thing and returned it by accident before I had a chance to read it.

Justice League Book Tag

I’m overdue to post a book tag, so here I am with the Justice League Book Tag that was created by Angelica and Rosie, the Book Cover Girls. Angelica and Rosie created the tag last year prior to watching the movie, so I don’t know what their opinion of it is, but they didn’t seem to have high hopes that it would be good. I saw it (because of Khal Drogo as Aquaman) but thought it was crap. Batman basically sat out the whole movie and I didn’t like that Superman part. But anyways…

I was tagged by the Orangutan Librarian, one of my fav bloggers on here, and here are the rules:

• Copy these rules onto your post
• Mention creators of the tag: Angelica and Rosie @TheBookCoverGirls and link to the original post
• Mention and thank the person who tagged you and link to their post
• Answer all the questions
• Since there were originally seven members in the Justice League, tag 7 people
• Also, you can use the images provided, but don’t have to if you don’t want to
• Have fun with it!

Batman: Your favorite antihero

I Heart Characters! #2: Shapeshifter God Neighbor

I Heart Characters! is a weekly meme hosted by Dani at Perspective of a Writer to share our love of great characters. Each week Dani will assign a topic/type of character that we must find examples of in the various media we consume (books, TV shows, movies, comics, podcasts, etc.).

For now, it seems that my timing will always be off for this meme. Maybe in June I’ll get back on track and post according to the dates Dani has listed. Since I missed last week’s topic (I was on vacation and didn’t post anything) and will most likely be busy next week, I’ve decided to complete all the topics for May in this post.

Starting with last week’s topic:

Shapeshifter idol

A shifter character whose abilities and life I’d love to lead…

an animagus

Down the TBR Hole #6: It’s Been a While…

Here’s another edition of Down the TBR Hole, a meme created by Lia at Lost in a Story where we decide whether to keep or remove books on our TBR.

The rules for Down the TBR Hole:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I’ve switched it up some and will only list the books I plan to remove from my Goodreads TBR. Those with a green Kick Off are ones I’ll probably change my mind on and read at some point.

Batch #1

“Dread Nation” by Justina Ireland

Another surprising read I didn’t expect to enjoy.

I’d given up on YA books because I became annoyed that they were mostly romance novels touted as other genres. Whether they are categorized as fantasy or horror or sci-fi, the main focus of the story is always the romance and often it is the weakest part of the story. Because of that, I stopped reading YA books for a while. But the few rave reviews I’ve seen of Dread Nation, as well as this article, got me curious and made me want to read the book. So I did.

Genre:

Historical fiction — alternative history; Horror (it’s not scary)

Pubbed:

2018

Goodreads summary:

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.