[TOP TEN TUESDAY] 10 Authors I NEED to Meet (once i overcome my awkwardness)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at the Broke and the Bookish

Hello,

This week's prompt: Top Ten Authors I'm Dying To Meet / Ten Authors I Can't Believe I've Met 

I know I just wrote about authors but you know, I just can't pass this prompt when I saw everyone doing it (yes, I wrote this really quick 'cause I'm jealous). ANYWAY, this is list is also my fave authors list ('cause don't we all want to meet our fave authors? I know I do even though I'd probably just stand there like a freak and not say anything because I'm awkward like that. literally. happened before, hahaha. I suck).

*life update though: i'll start blog hopping and replying to comments for real by April. i still have a few obligations to do like thesis revisions and finishing my internship. i'll see you guys soon! once again, thanks for keeping up with me. also, i was surprised to see an increase of followers over the course of my blogging break. thanks so much you guys! 😘

5 Authors I'd Love to See in a Dystopian Author Panel!

just a heads up on who might be here.

Hello,

As I said, I'm back to reading and blogging. YAY FOR THAT! *virtually throws confetti* As I said before, thanks for keeping up with me. I'll be back for real next week when all these things are done. My undergraduate thesis defense will happen on Saturday (send prayers and wish me luck, thanks!).

ANYWAY, let me be random for a while and go have fun with this post. Let's talk about dystopian authors just because dystopian series are #fun (okay, they're not. they're thrilling. but still enjoyable to read). What I generally love most about dystopian series are the worlds the author creates (like how perfect it should be but 'nothing's perfect' so that #sucks) and how resistance group are organized and fight back.

Friendly reminder though, I honestly don't think I've read that much dystopian novels (at least I thought I was able to but later realized I haven't and I wanted to do this list). The authors might make you feel limited or something. I don't know. ANYWAY, I honestly can't remember much on some of the others books like the Legend trilogy and Shatter Me trilogy but let's just acknowledge how nicely they were made, okay? ALSO, one final note: I HAVE NEVER ATTENDED A BOOK CONVENTION (or anything related to it) with author panels because #internationalreader. Okay? :) I do know some (if not all) of them have sat down as panel members before. so yeah...

Let's get into this! I decided to divide my author panel into two: (1) Dystopian World & (2) Dystopian Resistance Group. I was thinking of a third one but... *shrugs* eh, lack of authors. it was dissolved. sorry.

Welcome to the World Domination Panel *evil laughs*. But seriously, writing a dystopian novel is like world domination 'cause you're creating you're own evil world and a resistance group overthrowing an evil government is kind of like world domination as well. (i'm not good with titles so let's just get over at how cringe-y and lame it is. and that i even explained it lamely. just how lame can i get?). But really, you can just call it the Dystopian Panel 'cause #cringey

panel 1

DYSTOPIAN WORLD

Pierce Brown | Neal Shusterman | Veronica Roth

[WEEKEND READS] where I get back to all things blogging & reading (i hope)

still #currentlyreading

Hello,

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS FOR KEEPING UP AND STAYING WITH ME. You guys, encouraged me, wished me luck, told me to take care of my health, and you guys continued to comment on my posts even though I'm away.

I was gone for a couple of weeks and it was crazy. Things are not done but they are close to completion (thank the stars that while we're not exactly doing great, we're actually, unexpectedly doing fine). important: i will be eternally grateful if you guys follow our working project: facebook, twitter, instagram. even just for a month. if you follow, just leave a comment how you followed and i'll follow you back on your blog/twitter/insta and leave a comment on your blog. such a useless stretch i know but I WILL BE GRATEFUL IF YOU FOLLOW AND SHARE THESE LINKS).

By Tuesday, everything will be submitted to our thesis defense panel members and we'll be preparing for our defense next Saturday. Since we'll have our paper over and done with this weekend, I'll finally have some legit time to read and write actual blog posts --  reviews, that tag I got, and discussion posts. Who knows what I'll have first? 'cause I don't even know myself! lol.

recent reads

n/a

busy life.

[WEEKEND READS] where I try to deal with #TakeControlTBR

random photo, i know. i'm reading Cruel Beauty though. and i'm excited for Scythe and Heartless!

Hello,

I mentioned in my last #weekendreads post that I'll be busy in the next few weeks. It has only been a week since I said that and it has been crazy! Like I'm in need of sleep right at this moment and thinking about my thesis makes me feel nervous with my heart pumping five times faster than usual. LIKE wHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN HERE!?

here's a fancy life update:
- I haven't slept decently. It's either I sleep like three or less hours or I don't sleep at all! It's crazy! and I still went to my intership the next day. That's my Monday through Thursday;
- My boss at my internship had me work on this rush project that needs printing ASAP (Wednesday actually) and because they were too busy to check if my work is fine (because really, I don't get the final say on things. I'm just an intern!) until the last minute. AND TADA!! We hustle! I was supposed to have everything done by Wednesday and not go to work on Thursday but cuz we're hustling, I still dropped by the office and ended up getting home at around 11PM. CRAZY THING RIGHT HERE!!
- Friday, my thesismates went to my place so that we can work together. We're still together, by the way, and I'm secretly writing this blog post behind their backs. lol.
- I'm writing this Friday night though and we won't be sleeping. FUN! *sarcastictonelikeDUH* We'll be together until Sunday. We're going to make a fancy blog about our thesis plus social media accounts. Facebook anyone? Facebook Likes + Follow is EXTREMELY APPRECIATED! PLEASE! THANKS!

recent reads

Rose Petal Graves (the Lost Clan #1) | Olivia Wildenstein
Rose Petal Graves ended up being an 'okay' read for me. I enjoyed it and shipped that romance. The world was interesting but I wasn't completely absorbed into it. Also there's humor and it's one of my fave parts of the novel. Completely priceless (banterings are my fave, ya know!). Read my full review here.

10 Books You Must Convince Me to Continue Reading!

unfinished business

Hello,

I was looking at my last Top Ten Tuesday post and ended up pondering about books I actually never finished. Not that I plan to actually drop them for good. I honestly plan to read them when I'm in a better mood for them ('cause sometimes mood matters. really). I'm not attracting negative vibes to my blog or anything. I just thought it might be fancy to ask some opinions on these books I held off. This post really shows off my being a black sheep though but at least I'm trying to live up to my blog title. lol.

Some of these probably aren't even popular and some of these are actually classics. Classics are generally a struggle for me. But I'm trying, really. I want to get into them. And become a more substantial writer and analytical reader. lol.

Once again, don't hate me, okay? I will finish these books. i hope. I know some of these are actually good (highly recommended, even) but I was just not on the right mood or it wasn't the right time (I must be very busy then) when I picked it up so it didn't work out. I hope you understand that, okay? I just held all of these off and will come back to them soon. don't know when is soon though.

So let's get into this!!

[TOUR] Rose Petal Graves

Rose Petal Graves Tour + Giveaway
tour schedule can be found at: YA Bound Book Tours

title: Rose Petal Graves (the Lost Clan #1)
author: Olivia Wildenstein
genre: young adult, fantasy
publish: March 29, 2017
purchase: Amazon | B&N
rating: 3.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

ANCIENT SECRETS CANNOT REMAIN BURIED FOREVER.  

Founded two centuries ago by a powerful tribe of Gottwa Indians, Rowan was a quiet town, so quiet that I fled after graduation. Staying away was the plan, but Mom died suddenly.  

Dad said she suffered a stroke after she dug up one of the ancient graves in our backyard, which happens to be the town cemetery. Creepy, I know. Creepier still, there was no corpse inside the old coffin, only fresh rose petals.  

As we made preparations for Mom’s burial, new people began arriving in Rowan, unnervingly handsome and odd people. I begged them to leave, but they stayed, because their enemies—my ancestors—were beginning to awaken. 

fictional Native tribe + faeries.

I requested for this book because I read the author's Masterful duology and loved it! However, Rose Petal Graves is completely different. Rose Petal Graves: (1) involves the tribe of Gottwa, Indians -- Natives, something completely new to me (important note: the Gottwas are fictional, as the author noted, and are 'loosely inspired by the Ojibwe people.'); (2) has faeries and faehunters (okay?); (3) has a medical student heroine and wants to be a doctor but her ancestors are #gasp faehunters; (4) is an amusing yet not a very thrilling read.

[WEEKEND READS] where I tell you that I'll probably be gone for a while

#currentlyreading

Hello,

I missed #weekendreads last week because #busylife (and also maybe because I've been procrastinating a lot. gotta blame myself for that!). BUT now that sh!t escalates, I have to say that I may not be posting as much as usual.

Why is this happening? Last Wednesday, it was announced that my undergraduate thesis defense will be on the 25th or 27th of March too close, I know which is why, I will be gone for a while. I've procrastinated so much and now I'm dead hustling. I'll be reading books and writing quick reviews but I'll have them up on goodreads (add me as a friend if you haven't. let's stalk each other's reading updates!) and have full reviews by late March or April.

Yup, I'll be back (not that I'll be gone for good. you people can't get rid of me that easily.) on late March or early April depending on how our defense will go. Send me prayers and wish me the best of luck, please. Thanksssss!! The next few days will be crazy for me! #weekendreads will still be up every Saturday though, I hope.

[REVIEW] The Nightingale

title: The Nightingale
author: Kristin Hannah
genre: adult fiction, historical fiction
publish: February 3, 2015 by St. Martin's Press
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 5 / 5 stars
goodreads

The bestselling novel that has captured readers across the globe -- a story of two sisters, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France. 

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France... but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in places that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food, money, nor hope, as danger escalates all around them, Vianne is forced to make on impossible choice after another to keep her family alive. 

Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians match into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can... completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking everything she has to save her fellow countrymen -- even her own life.

a MUST READ WWII novel.

I've been hoping to read this book in like FOREVER because: (1) it's historical fiction (and you know my goal: read all those historical fiction!! no alternate history/fantasy history for me though, sorry); (2) it' set in WWII (probably the most widely written time period at the moment. probably); (3) I've SEEN this book recommended everywhere!! just EVERYWHERE!! (along with All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr).

Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge!

March TBR

Hello,

I randomly came across this month-long reading challenge that involves dealing with our unmanageable to-be-read pile. And I'm like: OHWOW, PERFECT! I was going to read a couple of April eARCs but when I saw this I knew that this is the time I clear some of the books from my tbr. So sorry, April review books.

things about #TakeControlTBR
- reading challenge started yesterday, March 1 and ends on March 31
- hosted by kimbacaffeinate @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer
- ALL books/audios must be published before March 1, 2017.
- there will be a twitter party on March 15th @ 7PM (CST)
- there will also be a 24-hr TBR read-a-thon on March 18 (which I will not be participating in 'cause #busylife)
- signup post can be found here.
- there's a giveaway and books read and reviewed can be linked here.

FEBRUARY ROUNDUP (aka the better reading month)

#currentlyreading

Hello,

February was busy but it was good. My mind is still scrabbling over things I need to do and why the heck I'm procrastinating so much. I mean instead of actually getting things done, I read books or watch anime. I'm almost caught up on Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans by the way. Definitely one of the best anime I've seen so far! Watch it here!!

books read

I mentioned last month that I was in a slump. Thank the stars I'm done with that. Need, while I had some issues with it, helped me get out of it. It was followed by The Nightingale which was such a great read and really assured me that I'm done with the slump. But sad thing is that I can't seem to actually finish an ebook lately. Station Fosaan did it! It was such a bad read!! Revival really made me interested in picking up more Stephen King Novels. My #bookentine reads, The Season of You & Me and Made You Up were both really good but I did not completely fell in love with both. #sadlife