Crooked Kingdom – Eternity Books

Let’s Talk Bookish – Bias Towards Books & Authors

Published on January 10, 2020March 22, 2020 by Rukky @ Eternity Books22 Comments

Hola my dear bookish friends and welcome to another Let’s Talk Bookish post! Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by me, where we discuss chosen topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.

Today’s topic is: Does your love for an author make you biased towards their book and vice versa?

This is a question I’m curious to see all of your answers to. I once thought that I was biased, but I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t matter whether I love or hate an author, my feelings towards their book will depend on how good the book is.

I don’t have many favorite authors. I have favorite books, which makes me like the author, but it doesn’t make them my favorite ones. Honestly, I can count all my favorite authors on one hand.

So, for me, the question is more like, does my love for another book of the author make me biased towards their other books? No. I don’t think so.

After a lot of recommendations, and just seeing Six of Crows everywhere, I finally decided to read it and see what all the fuss was about. I loved it. It’s sequel, Crooked Kingdom? I loved it too. But when I tried Bardugo’s newest release, Ninth House, I could barely get through the first two chapters.

Despite my love for Bardugo’s other books, it wasn’t able to sway me into pushing through Ninth House.

Another great example is the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco. I enjoyed the first two books, seriously disliked the third, and was seriously annoyed with the fourth. Despite the fact that I liked the first two, I wasn’t able to forgive or look past all the mess that happened in the two books after that.

So no. My love for an author, or for some of their books, doesn’t make me biased towards their other books.

If I don’t like a book, however, I think it does make me biased, because then I don’t want to pick up any other books by that author. And if I hear bad things about the author, then I also probably will steer clear of their books, though I believe they (the books) should be treated fairly. The author could be controversial, but their books might be good, and it doesn’t help to rate them when you haven’t read them, or attack people who do read them (more on that here!).

You never know. But I probably still won’t be picking up that author’s books anytime soon.

This Week’s Participants:

So, what do you think? Does your love for an author make you biased towards their book and vice versa? Do you sometimes feel inclined to rate a book by an author that you like, much higher than you normally would? Do you have many favorite authors? Chat with me in the comments below!

Monthly Wrap-Up: November 2019

Published on December 2, 2019December 2, 2019 by Rukky @ Eternity Books18 Comments

Good morning! I hope you had an amazing weekend! Today, I’m going to be doing my monthly wrap-up for November of 2019.

It’s unbelievable how fast the year has gone by. I mean there are literally 29 days left of 2019! A new decade is about to start!! Please tell me I’m not the only one absolutely anxious, scared, and excited about this!!!

November was an interesting month. I got the last week off of school, so that was great, but all my plans for blogging and reading…didn’t happen unfortunately. The beginning of the month was great and I was super excited, but then it kind of dipped from there.

Books:

Covers are from Goodreads

I read 7 books, which is a bit of a disappointment since I read 13 books last month. I’ve got to read 14 books by the end of the year to reach my goal of 100. I’m not sure if I’ll make it, but hopefully I will. I did read some of the books on my Nov TBR, but not all, and I didn’t write a review for any of them lol. However, the links lead to my unofficial thoughts on Goodreads.

Book	Author	Rating
An Unwanted Guest	Shari Lapena	★★★★☆
The Scorpio Races	Maggie Stiefvater	★★★★★
A Darker Shade of Magic	V.E. Schwab	★★★★★
Crooked Kingdom	Leigh Bardugo	★★★★★
The Fixer (Buddy Read)	Jennifer Lynn Barnes	★★★★★
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill	Abbi Waxman	★★★☆☆
The Long Game (Buddy Read)	Jennifer Lynn Barnes	★★★★★

I also did 2 official reviews. I have so many backlogged reviews that I honestly need to write, but don’t feel like it. Maybe I’ll do more in December? or probably I’ll just wait and really start writing them in the upcoming decade 😉

Three Days Missing by Kimberly Belle // Rating: ★★★★☆ One sentence summary: An interesting thriller with great characters and an underwhelming reveal.

Vengeful by V.E. Schawb // Rating: ★★★★★ One sentence summary: A great sci-fi thriller with amazing characters and an intriguing plot.

Total Number of Books Read This Month: 7

Total Number of Reviews: 2

Tags:

Well, technically I did only 1 tag, but since I answered some questions in a tag-ish kind-of format for my 200 Q&A Answer post, I shall count that as a tag as well.

Behind the Blog: 200 Follower Q&A Answers (Thank you so much guys for asking questions and helping me reach 200!)

Blogger Recognition Award (Thank you so much Emer!)

Let’s Talk Bookish

What Makes a Great Book?

Reading Books Outside of Your Age Range

Plot or Characters?

Do You Have To Every Book You Read?

How Reading Has Changed My Life

Great Posts From Around the Blog-O-Sphere:

Sarah @ Written Word Worlds talks about what is considered a problematic book.

Vicki @ Vicky Who Reads talks about what to do if your favorite books are problematic and I love + and – idea!!

Veronika @ Wordy and Whimsical shares the tropes that she doesn’t want to see in books anymore and I agree with every single one.

Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea gives advice on how to keep you audience’s attention and I found it really helpful!

Anything Else?

I had the whole of the previous week off, and I didn’t write/draft any extra posts. I’m really disappointed. I had a horrible migraine one day and then I went out some other days, and I just didn’t get anything done. I’d been planning all month, I was pretty excited, and it didn’t happen. Oh well.

I’ve been thinking about doing some different and hopefully interesting posts including a book recommendation post so if that’s something you’d like to see let me know in the comments!

I also still haven’t posted the LTB topics for this month, but I’m going to try and post them tomorrow. Sorry!

That’s A Wrap!

In the end, I read 7 books, did 2 reviews, 2 tags, and 5 LTB discussion posts. 6 of the books were 4 or 5 stars, so that’s amazing. I only met my goal of writing at least 3 discussion posts that I set for November, so hopefully I’ll do better this month.

My goals for this month are to read 14 books (at least 10), do 4 or 5 tags, 3 reviews, and 4 LTB posts.

And that’s it for this wrap-up! How was November for you? How many books did you read? What do you think about problematic books? Would you like to see a book recommendation post? Any ideas for more creative posts that I can try out? Anything you’d like to share? Let’s chat in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday #38

Published on November 20, 2019November 20, 2019 by Rukky @ Eternity Books17 Comments

Hey friends! I hope you are having a fantastic day! It is time for my weekly reading update, WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words.

The Three W’s are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Let’s get started!

All covers are from Goodreads

What I Just Finished:

A Darker Shade of Magic was a pleasant surprise. I really liked Kell, would have loved more of Rhy, and Lila was an interesting character. There was a bit of info dumping and it was kind of slow in the beginning, but I liked knowing how everything worked. I’m wondering how it’s a series, when there was no cliffhanger or something at the end, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Rhy and Kell.

I just finished my re-read of The Fixer, and it is still just as amazing. I loved the characters, and the plot twists, and I noticed some new things this time around. Asher is the best, Vivvie is the sweetest, and Henry and Tess are fighting for the title of the deadliest. I loved the odd friendship between them all. (BR with Amelia)

What I’m Currently Reading:

I’m going to start The Long Game today!

I’m 67% into Crooked Kingdom and the banter is everything. I missed this team so so much, and I’m loving how this has a lot more heists going on. And I forgot how absolutely ruthless Kaz is. And this scheme that they’re plotting, I really hope it goes right. It has to.

What I Plan To Read Next:

Next up is The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, or Hungry Hearts, or Crown of Midnight.

That’s it for this Wednesday. What are you reading? Have you read any of the books above? What did you think? Am I the only one who’s dying with worry and hoping that Kaz’s latest crazy scheme goes right? Let’s chat in the comments below! (Be sure to link to your WWW’s so that I can check them out!)

Monthly TBR: November 2019

Published on November 12, 2019November 12, 2019 by Rukky @ Eternity Books14 Comments

Good morning or afternoon or evening! Welcome to my To-Be-Read list for November 2019!

Last month, I had a TBR post, and I managed to read 13 books, which I’m super proud of. And so hopefully, maybe if I have a TBR for each month, I’ll be able to continue reading more, and catch up on my GR reading challenge. And maybe I’ll end up not reading anything at all, but I’m still pretty hopeful that this TBR will work.

Anyways, let’s get started!

In my last TBR post, I just dumped a bunch of books that I wanted to read, and their summaries together, but this time, I’m going to split them between the book that I’ve Already Read, Books that I’m going to Buddy Read, and Library Borrows/Holds. That should give this some semblance of order.

Already Read

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. (Read: Nov. 2) This was a really great book and the end shattered me. It was a little slow, but Liesel’s adventures, her friendship with Rudy, Mama and Papa, Max, book stealing, and all the mismatched characters on Himmel Street were amazing and that ending hurt. so. much.

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena. (Read: Nov. 4) A very good thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I didn’t guess who the killer was at all, and the two twists at the end were really good.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. (Read: Nov. 10) It was really heartwarming, and I loved the characters, their struggles, the theme of finding where you belong, and the magic of the water horses. Finn is adorable and a real gem, and I loved Puck and Sean’s relationship, and how it didn’t overpower the plot or consume each of their lives. Their bonds with their horses was beautiful and that ending was so peaceful, and perfect, and I’m so happy that I read this. (I also have a recipe for November Cakes and I’m so excited!!)

Books to Buddy Read

The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Buddy re-read 11/11 with Amelia (E-book)

The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Banes. Buddy re-read 11/19 with Amelia (E-book)

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Buddy re-read sometime in November

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi. Buddy read 11/25 with The Owl (E-book)

Library Borrows/Holds

I’m going to order these based on their due dates, the ones that I can renew, and the ones that I’ll be getting soon.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab. Due 11/23, E-book

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. Due 11/24, E-book

Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin. Due 11/24, E-book

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman. Due 11/27, E-book

Beartown by Fredrik Backman. Renewable, Hardcover

The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah. Renewable, Hardcover

Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love (See all the authors here). Available soon, E-book

So all in all, I should probably read around 13 or 14 books this month which is a great number. What are you reading this November? Do you have a set TBR or are you a mood reader? Have you read any of the books above? If so, what did you think? Chat with me in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday #37

Published on November 6, 2019November 6, 2019 by Rukky @ Eternity Books6 Comments

Hey friends! I hope you are having a fantastic day! It is time for my weekly reading update, WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words.

The Three W’s are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Let’s get started!

All covers are from Goodreads

What I Just Finished:

Assassin’s Masque was a good ending to the series, and I liked it. It’s like one of those series that you just read, not because you really like the book, but because it’s fun to read.

*spoilers for The Book Thief. You can skip over to An Unwanted Guest’s update if you don’t want to see the spoilers*

Guys. The ending of The Book Thief broke my heart. It left me crying. For over an hour. It hurt so much, and why? Why did that have to happen? Why did Death take them away? Rudy. Mama. Papa. Everybody. That beautiful and lively Himmel Street. And the fact that Death spoiled it ahead of time did nothing to prepare me, though I thought I was prepared. Even now, it still stings to think about it.

The original book that I was going to read by Lapena, was Someone We Know, but my library didn’t have that, so I picked up An Unwanted Guest instead. The suspense, the atmosphere, the characters, everything was done amazingly, and I did not guess who the murderer was at all. Also, the twist at the very end was pretty good.

What I’m Currently Reading:

I’m pretty excited to read The Scorpio Races (recommended by the lovely Meeghan). I’m only a few chapters in, but so far so good. I’m super interested in the water horses and how the races work.

I keep saying that I’m going to start Beartown, but I haven’t yet, and again, today, hopefully I’m going to start it. It’s been on my currently reading now for a few days, so hopefully I will actually start reading it.

What I Plan To Read Next:

I’ve got 5 books to read, and they are all from the library, and I’m trying to read them in order of when they are due, but that’s not working out well. I’m definitely going to pick up one of these 5 next, but I’m not sure which one (probably CK lol).

That’s it for this Wednesday. What are you reading? Have you read any of these? What did you think? Any suggestions for what I should read next? Let’s chat in the comments below! (Be sure to link to your WWW’s so that I can check them out!)