Posts

Showing posts from February, 2017

Monthly Wrap-Up: Goodbye February, hello March...

-
Image
February was a pretty good month for me. I read a lot of books, and I've also been reading the Bible and doing some creative writing every single day. Yay! I'm so pleased about that :) I'm actually planning to do a writing post soon where I'll share my latest book ideas and snippets...  
I didn't watch a lot this month, but March will definitely be a heavy movie month.  Our dvd store has just gotten in The Meddler, The Magnificent Seven, and The Girl on the Train, so I'll be picking those up soon. Also, my dad bought me Season 1 of Arrow and Season 1 of The Musketeers, so I'm BEYOND HYPED to watch them! I've already seen a lot of Arrow on YouTube, but I never finished series 1, so I'm looking forward to that. And The Musketeers looks so beautifully romantic and action-packed and some of the actors are seriously good-looking, so YAY YAY YAY!! <3 

Posts of the month (excluding reviews and weekly round-ups): 
Waiting on Wednesday #18
Dear Writer, Be a R…
...... »

TORN - by Cat Clarke

-
Image
Torn - Cat Clarke
Year Published: 2011 - by Quercus.
Genres: Young adult / mystery / contemporary / thriller / drama / realistic fiction.
Pages: 372.
Source: Library.
Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt. Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares… Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down. Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever...
Ooooh *shivers*
I really enjoyed this book.


It wasn't a nice story in the slightest, but it was decently written and constantly entertaining. I literally could not put the book down. I was…
...... »

Weekly Round-Up: No reading or watching, what has happened to my life??!!

-
Image
I didn't read or watch anything this week. (Let's observe a moment of silence.) It is very tragic, but I'll start reading again on the 1st of March. Which isn't too far away.   But I did do something exciting this week: last night I went to see Twelfth Night performed at our local Open Air Theater, and it was an amazing experience! I love Shakespeare, and this was the first time I'd seen one of his plays performed live. It was wonderful.     
In other news, IT'S THE OSCARS TODAY!! I'm rooting for Emma Stone to win Best Actress (although I'm partial to Natalie Portman, too) and I'm hoping for Andrew Garfield for Best Actor (yes, that was a Stonefield-fueled decision...). I'm sure La La Land will pick up many of the awards, too.   It should be a very exciting night!  I haven't watched any of the nominated performances or films yet, but I'm gonna rent them as soon as they come into our dvd store. It always takes a while... *sighs* 

Posts of…
...... »

THE ECHOES OF LOVE - by Hannah Fielding

-
Image
The Echoes of Love - Hannah Fielding
Year Published: 2013 - by London Wall Publishing.
Genres: Romance / Adult / Historical fiction.
Pages: 360.
Source: Thank you to the author for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Set against the breathtaking beauty of Italy, The Echoes of Love is a passionate, heart-breaking romance to ignite the senses and rekindle your belief in the power of love. Seduction, passion and secrets... Venetia Aston-Montagu has escaped to Venice to work in her godmother's architectural practice, putting a lost love behind her. For the past ten years she has built a fortress around her heart, only to find the walls tumbling down one night of the carnival when she is rescued from masked assailants by an enigmatic stranger, Paolo Barone. Drawn to the powerfully seductive Paolo, despite warnings of his Don Juan reputation and rumours that he keeps a mistress, Venetia can't help being caught up in the smouldering passion that ignites between them. W…
...... »

The Blog Squad: A Blogger Collaboration - Part 3

-
Image
We are a group of three book bloggers situated on different continents but brought together by our love for books and a penchant for talking about them. We’ve joined our forces to create a collaborative series of posts about book blogging and we hope you’ll enjoy the discussions.
A MAGICAL WORLD OF WORDS  - AmyNikita  BOOKS.BAGS.BURGERS - Uma K  BOOK REVIEWS BY DI - Di Hewlett

What is more important? A high number of followers OR a smaller number but more interactive followers?

Book Blogging is actually a huge responsibility all in itself - you’re putting your opinion out there for the public to see. Not only that, it’s your opinion on something that someone has spent a lot of time creating. If you’ve accepted ARCs or review copies from publishers and authors you have a responsibility to get a review out there. There’s post scheduling, there’s cross posting reviews, there’s actually writing a review worthy of someone’s time to read! It’s a lot to think about! Yet none of that would be…
...... »

THE GREAT WALL (film) was fun to watch, but definitely not a great movie

-
Image
The Great Wall - 2016
Director: Yimou Zhang.
Cast: Matt Damon / Willem Dafoe / Tian Jing
Content Rating: PG 13 for sequences of fantasy action violence.
Source: Cinema.

European mercenaries searching for black powder become embroiled in the defense of the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures.

Note: I watched this in 3D in the cinema. It.Was.Terrifying. Cool, but terrifying. Mostly cool. But still terrifying. 




I love action adventure films. I'll watch anything with action, and I'll enjoy it (most of the time).
And while I did like this movie, it wasn't that good.


The cinematography was excellent and the visuals were mind-blowing; incredible CGI, and on a massive scale. It reminded me of the scale of Lord of the Rings.
In addition, the action was terrific, exciting, and breathlessly intense. The cinematography showed this to its best advantage, and maybe it's just me, but there's something about Matt Damon with a bow and arrows....something....
(And…
...... »

TIME BETWEEN US (Time Between Us #1) - by Tamara Ireland Stone

-
Image
Time Between Us - Tamara Ireland Stone
Year Published: 2012 - by Hyperion.
Pages: 368.
Genres: YA / contemporary / fantasy / romance.
Source: Library.
Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet. Why would they? Anna's a sixteen-year-old in 1995, fiercely determined to secure a running scholarship so she can leave her quiet, dull town and finally travel the world. Bennett's a seventeen-year-old in 2012, living in San Francisco and trying to control his ability to travel through time - an incredible gift, but also an unpredictable curse, which constantly threatens to separate him from the people he loves. When a minor lapse in judgment puts his sister Brooke in danger, Bennett finds himself two thousand miles and seventeen years away - in Anna's world. As he searches for Brooke, Bennett is strangely and inescapably drawn to Anna, who feels sure she's seen him somewhere before. Through the gorgeous, mysterious newcomer, able to travel anywhere in a split second, Anna visit…
...... »

Waiting on Wednesday #21: INTO THE WATER - by Paula Hawkins

-
Image
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Breaking the Spine and now taken over by Wishful Endingsthat highlights upcoming book releases we're excited to read. On my blog, I include movies as well.
Into the Water - by Paula Hawkins

Release Date: May 2nd 2017.


A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged. Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother’s sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she’d never return.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. So it makes perfect sense that I'll adore this book as well. The premise is amazing, Hawkins's writing is beyond …
...... »

Interview: Magical Words from author Tiffany McDaniel

-
Image
I am so excited to have author Tiffany McDaniel on the blog today, and I hope you'll enjoy the interview!  Thank you, Tiffany, for visiting and sharing :)  
Here's the Goodreads link to Tiffany's award-winning novel:  The Summer That Melted Everything


1: What are some of your all-time favourite books? Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, and Above the River: The Collected Poems of James Wright.


2: What are your favourite types of scenes to write? Which are the hardest to write?
My favourite scenes to write are usually the introduction scenes because like the reader I’m meeting the characters for the first time. The hardest scenes to write are probably the scenes of death or scenes that you hope the reader will have an emotional response to.


3: What usually comes to you first: a character, or a story/plot idea?
I always start writing a new novel with two things: the title and the first line. These two things lead the entire re…
...... »