Liebster Q&A

Today I am here with the news that I've been nominated for a Liebster award by my friend Jay @ Books By Jay - thanks very much!  If you've been around for a while, you'll know I did a couple of these last year (which you can see here and here - just remember, I was a different person back then lol) and you'll also know that I am ridiculously bad at picking people to tag.  So, hopefully no one minds if I just use Jay's questions for a Q&A post.  Here goes!

Mini Reviews ft. Cooper Bartholomew is Dead, Every Move

Here's another couple of mini reviews.  I know I posted some others not too long ago, but I have another post coming at some stage that talks about these two books, so I've got to space them out!  As usual, if you've read either of these books, let me know what you thought.

Most Anticipated in May

I recently made a few preorders on The Book Depository.  They're probably my most anticipated books of 2015 (which is proven by the fact that I preordered them), and they all come out in May.  I'll probably have a photo-filled post once all the books have arrived, but today I thought I would discuss them and why I am anticipating them in a sort of hybrid Waiting on Wednesday (credit to Breaking the Spine for that).
*All of the synopses are obtained from Goodreads.

Mini Reviews ft. Red Queen and The Iron Trial

I've only got two mini reviews in my post today, and they are both very different books.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on them in the comments below!

Top Ten Quotes From Books - Top Ten Tuesday

This week's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is top ten inspiring quotes.  I'm not the kind of person who can spout quotes off the top of their head, but I do have a little notebook with special quotes that I've written down.  Also there was a period of time where I would go through the Goodreads quote page for every book I read and like my favourite quotes from that.  Now that I've remembered this little habit, I'm going to go catch up on the books I forgot to do...
Anyway, here's ten some quotes from books that I find inspiring!

Thoughts On Insurgent Movie (Spoilers)

Alright, I'm going to be straight up honest with you: this is going to be more of a rant than a review.  Another thing I want to mention before I start is that I thought Insurgent was okay as a movie.  I just didn't think it was good as a book to movie adaptation.  I understand that things can, and need to, be changed, and maybe upon rewatching this movie I will like it better.  But for now, I am going to focus on my first opinions.  This is also going to be filled to the brim with SPOILERS for the movie and the book as well as Allegiant, so if you don't want to be spoiled do not read on.

Now, the Divergent trilogy is quite close to my heart.  The first book was something amazing, and made me feel invincible.  I loved the world and I loved going through Dauntless training and experiencing everything Tris did.  After the first movie, I got all the same feelings that the book gave me - and that's the main thing I look for in a book-to-movie adaptation.  The Insurgent book was just as enthralling for me as Divergent, however I just didn't feel the same excitement after watching the movie.  In fact, there was very little that matched the book at all - not just the feeling.  I understand that the movie is an interpretation of the book, but if even the feeling isn't right, it's not going to work for me.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I remember once going to the circus when I was younger.  It started late at night, which was an adventure in itself for a kid who was usually asleep by 7.30pm.  I recall the excitement I felt queueing up for tickets.  It had been raining earlier, so there was a little mud mixed in with the straw underfoot.  It wasn't squelchy though, so that was great.  Then of course there was the circus' smell.  It was a mix of sweet food, wet straw and manure.  Altogether, rather than being good or bad, it was the smell of promise.  A promise that something amazing was about to occur.  The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern perfectly captured this promising feeling and of course, the rest of the feelings associated with a circus, and this was my absolute favourite thing about the book.  It was completely charming.

The Friday 56 - World After

Today I'm linking up to The Friday 56, hosted by Freda's Voice!  All you have to do is pick a book and share a sentence of two from page 56 or 56% - if you're on an e-reader.  I'm currently rereading World After by Susan Ee, and I've decided to share some of that.  Don't worry, there are no spoilers involved!

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold by Iain Reading

*Thank you to Book Publicity Services for providing me with a copy of this book*

You may remember (or you may not) that a while ago, I talked a bit about this book, called Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold.  I believed it to be a mysterious, young adult adventure book and for the most part, I was right.  As I said in that post, it reminded me of the times when I read Trixie Belden.  Both series follow a young, curious woman solving mysteries and going on adventures.  This book in particular follows the lovely Kitty Hawk as she tries to unravel a mystery of stolen gold.

After finishing the book, I would say this novel is leaning more towards middle-grade rather than young adult, even though Kitty is a teenager.  Her voice is a little younger, but it just goes to show the kind of person she is - polite, and filled with wonder for the world.  She's fairly smart and very conscious of the way that she lives her life and how it affects other people.  I really enjoyed her character.