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;representation matters
When I first started planning this blog post, I thought I’d be able to make a nice header, make it pretty because just because it’s an important message doesn’t mean I can’t make it palatable for people. Right? Except then I wasn’t as fired up as I am not. Then I was thinking of writing about the discussion sparked up by someone’s tweet – I don’t remember who anymore and that’s probably a good thing? – about being tired of princess stories in YA, or chosen one storylines, or something to that effect. It had sparked a response from various awesome bloggers and writers I follow who pointed out that…
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june 2018; it’s a wrap
June has arrived, and I feel like I should feel accomplished, but part of me is just meh with the world. Maybe it’s the summer slump? Is that a thing? It should be a thing. On the blogging front, besides a couple of mishaps where I forgot what day it was – I can’t even blame it on anything, I just did? – I have been pretty consistent! My stats may not reflect that – especially because I definitely do not advertise my blog as much as I probably should – but it could be worse, I’m sure. Professionally, I have FINALLY put together a shop. I think I have…
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review; the duff
The DUFF by Kody Keplinger Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out…
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;the last five books I added to my TBR
Alternatively; Help I Keep Adding Things To My TBR And Am Losing Control Of My Life. It took me way too long to figure out what to write for this week’s post, but well, here we are! My GoodReads TBR is big. And growing daily because there are SO MANY BOOKS I WANT TO READ THANKS AUTHORS. So I thought I’d highlight the last five things I added to my TBR. I’m going to be honest, I don’t actually remember adding some of these books, but I must have for a reason? I’m listing the books in the order they were added to Goodreads, from the earliest to the latest.…
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instant to-read; the fairytale retelling edition
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might have noticed that I love fairytale-retellings. I love the Disney versions for most of them too, and the stories from which they are taken – or at least as far as I know them. But my one true weakness when it comes to books? Fairytale-retellings. If the back of the book – or the front! – boasts anything about the story being inspired by or a take on any fairytale ever, the likelihood of my reading it is Very High. Of course, there are some fairytales I veer towards more than others. I love them all, don’t get me…
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review; a thousand pieces of you
A Thousand Pieces Of You by Claudia Gray Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him. Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt – and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her…
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recipe; lighter tomato cream pasta
Pasta was my go-to meal of choice when the husband and I were living in New Zealand. We were both students, and it was just easy to make after a long day. It never hurt that pasta is always yummy. So there was always at least two cans of tomatos in the apartment and a packet of fusili and gnocchi. I adapted this recipe from Texanerin, and after realising I could make pink sauce with cream cheese instead of cream and cheese, I have not looked back. I’ve even adapted my cousin’s three cheese sauce into a cream cheese type sauce! This can be made with any pasta ever. I’ve…
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;an incomprehensive list of badass fictional mothers
It is almost Mother’s Day here in Malaysia, and I figured I’d make a list – I keep making lists!* – of fictional Moms that are awesome! *Lists are so easy to do and so much fun, but is anybody getting tired of them because maybe I should stop… So, as the title suggests, this is NOT A COMPLETE LIST because I’m definitely going to wind up forgetting someone and people might definitely not agree, and I might run out of Moms to gush about. Oh, who am I kidding, with the ‘absent parents’ trend in YA, I might definitely run out of Moms to talk about, but I refuse…
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review; blue lily, lily blue
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up. Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost. Friends can betray. Mothers can disappear. Visions can mislead. Certainties can unravel. Review:
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;five books for rainy days
I’ve been stumped on what to write for this month, I’m going to be honest. I’ve been doing a lot of last minute blog post writing and a lot of last minute everything, and I can’t seem to drag myself out of this procrastination and this slump. But apparently yelling into the Void (i.e. Twitter) helps, because one of my friends suggested writing something about books for the summer. The weather we’ve been having here in Malaysia has been more rainy than summer-y, so instead, here’s a little list of books that are, in my opinion, fun to read when it’s raining outside and you’ve got a mug of something…