OwlCrate – January 2017

I am so excited about the OwlCrate boxes, I keep stalking people who have subscribed and so I finally signed up for my box. This is actually my third box, and I have to say it’s going pretty well. I was worried that maybe I wouldn’t like the books as much, or that the books would pile up. But so far I have been so immersed in the stories and could not put the books down. I haven’t started this book yet, February has been an oddly busy for me. But this book sounds really interesting and I can’t wait to sink into it! I won’t go through everything that was in the box because there’s kind of a lot of stuff, just some of my favourite things in this month’s box. But here is a full look into what the January box contained: 

The theme of this month’s box is Classic Remix and the book, based off of The Phantom of the Opera, is RoseBlood by A.G. Howard. I haven’t actually read Phantom of the Opera (it’s on my list…I have a bunch of classics on my list that I will get to eventually!) or seen it on Broadway (I will also get to that eventually!) though I have watched the movie adaptation (please don’t crucify me for that admission!!) but I am looking forward to checking this out.So far my favourite thing about the book is that it’s printed in red ink!! I love this little detail so much! 

Some of my favourite things included in the box is this beautiful watercoloured bookmark. I love getting bookmarks because they always end up stuck in a book somewhere (or I lose them….) and then I always end up needing another bookmark. So this will definitely come in handy for me!

I really adore this book shaped soap by Tea Soap Books! It smells so good and cannot wait to use it. Although I’ll be really sad when it loses its book shape. I almost don’t want to use it for that reason

There was also this gorgeous calendar with a literary quote for each month.

And finally this yummy mint and rose herbal tea from First Edition Tea Co. I haven’t tried it yet, I’m looking forward to sipping on this while I read the book. But the blend looks so pretty with the specks of rose in it. Plus I love the in-your-face mint smell as soon as you open the bag. I recently got into mint tea, so I am very excited to try this tea blend!

Did anyone get the OwlCrate box? Let me know how you’re enjoying the book in the comments!

Remembrance by Meg Cabot

Here’s another book review from my week of being sick. I have to say, I really enjoy writing out the book reviews cause it forces me to be more concise and it also helps me to remember what actually happened in the books as opposed to just speed reading through and forgetting everything that has happened and details in the book.

The Boy Is Back by Meg Cabot

Cold season has officially begun for me and the past couple weeks, I have been completely out of it. The only good thing to come of it is all the reading time I suddenly had on my hands. When I’m sick, all I want is a book, some hot soothing tea, and a cat to cuddle with. Thankfully all three of my cats obliged me.
I finally got to go through a few books that have been on my reading list for awhile and now I’m thinking maybe being sick and away from work was not such a bad thing! If the coughing wasn’t so atrociously bad and headache inducing, I would want to be able to call in sick all the time just so I could get through my books and still be paid :).

Also I was super excited since I had tweeted out that I was snuggling with my little Kensi reading The Boy is Back and the one and only, amazing Meg Cabot tweeted back.I am not ashamed to say that I fangirl-ed so freaking hard. Anyway…

So here is my review of The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot. This was written in my bullet journal since my eyes couldn’t deal with the glare of electronic devices (hence all the reading time as opposed to couch potato time!), I hope you guys don’t mind and that you can read my writing!

Top Ten Tuesday

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a movie freebie from The Broke and the Bookish! So here is a list of my top ten favourite movies, in no particular order:

1. Jurassic Park

2. Jurassic World

3. Independence Day

4. The Princess Diaries

5. Captain America: Winter Soldier

6. The Avengers

7. Age of Ultron

8. Serenity

9. Rent

10. Grease

Christmas Bonus:

Miracle on 34th Street

Love Actually

Top Ten Tuesday

 

It’s another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly book meme by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is ten characters I would name my children/pet/whatever after. I’ve already named my pets after tv/book characters; my first Betta fish was named Grissom from the original CSI series, and two of my three cats are also named after favourite characters – Mia after Princess Mia Thermopolis from the Princess Diaries series and Kensi after Kensi Blye from NCIS: LA.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to do a top ten list instead of pets I would like to have from books and tv/movies. It was much harder than I had expected since with the exception of Harry Potter, my favourite shows and books don’t actually feature a lot of animals or pets. I really had to think back to childhood books on this one. So here are my top ten:

1. Archimedes from The Once and Future King by T.H. White. I just started reading this over the long weekend and I am hooked. I’m also kind of in love with Archimedes the owl.
2. Fawkes from the Harry Potter series. Phoenixes are so beautiful and I love their loyal nature (in Harry Potter anyway…). The magical properties are a bonus.
3. Hedwig from the Harry Potter series. I know I am cheating here with the next few, but Harry Potter gave us a lot of pets that I would love to open up my home to.
4. Buckbeak from the Harry Potter series. Buckbeak looks mean, but he’s a softie on the inside, kinda like Hagrid. As long as you treat him with respect. And why wouldn’t you treat all your pets with respect anyway?
5. Crookshanks from the Harry Potter series.
6. Abu from Aladdin. He was so mischievously cute and pretty sassy for a monkey. Ever since I saw Aladdin, I wanted to have Abu as a pet.
7. Fat Louie from the Princess Diaries series. Though my Mia is basically Fat Louie minus the sock eating habit.
8. the Rats of NIMH. I admit it, I was totally in love with Justin from the animated adaptation when I was much much younger. But I always thought that they would be pretty cool to have as pets, the idea that your pets could answer you back.
9. Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. I don’t know why Eeyore was always my favourite, but he was and I want him.
10. Littlefoot from the Land Before Time series. Or the raptors from Jurassic World, they were just so cute when they came back to save Owen in the end. Basically I want a dinosaur as a pet. I’m assuming I’m not the only one.

Top Ten Tuesday

It’s another Top Ten Tuesday hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is top ten books on my Fall TBR list. So here are mine:

I have re-started my Harry Potter re-read-a-thon ever since Cursed Child. I got through the first three books easily, but I find that I’m dragging myself reading GoF because I know bad things are about to go down and I can’t stomach it…but I’m determined to get through this one and the rest of the series!! So my first four books on this list are from the Harry Potter series:

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
3. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I went on another little shopping spree on bookoutlet.ca, it wasn’t even supposed to be for me but there were so many books that sounded interesting and then it became a mini shopping spree for me! I actually got the following books in the mail yesterday (with the exception of The Book Thief – I just keep meaning to get to it and then I don’t…), so I thought I would add these to my TBR list.

5. The Book Thief 
6. The Anatomist’s Wife 
7. Horns
8. Us
9. Oh! You Pretty Things
10. love in lowercase

I can’t wait to see what you guys are all planning on reading this Fall season!

Top Ten Tuesday

It has been a very long while since I did a top Top Ten Tuesday hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s theme is a semi-freebie, All About Audio.

When I was in high school, my editor had asked me if I could do a quick new music review to add into the newspaper as we needed something to fill up space. I said I could do something about the Boys, they had just released a new album some weeks earlier and he looked at me like I was joking. When he realized I wasn’t, he told me no and gave the job to someone else!! I was crushed. So this is for my grade 10 self, this week I am doing a compilation of my top ten favourite Backstreet Boys music videos.

1. I’ll Never Break Your Heart – original version
   I loved this video so much back in the day when it first came out. It was like the most romantic thing as a 13 year old – Brian’s broken heart in the snow, the rose…I wanted to be one of those girls so damn bad! I remember that when they remade the video, I was so upset because this was just the best thing ever. Years later, it’s still one of  my favourite videos.

2. 
   Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely
   This video will always hold a special place in my heart because of what it meant to the Boys. I remember watching the opening sequence with Brian and just bawling like a baby, the homage to Kevin’s dad, the dedication to Denniz Pop, who helped pen so many of their greatest hits. I still get teary eyed watching this and I loved that they shared such a personal part of their lives with the fans.
3. 
   As Long As You Love Me
   Nothing has created more giddy fangirling in me than this video. This was Nick Carter at the height of his perfection to me. Even now, when this song comes on the radio, I am filled with giddy giggles. I loved that they did the serious Boys and then the fun Boys. That this was the video where Brian met his future wife. Nick’s little “written in your history” hand gesture. The chair dance. The morphing. Super giddy.
4. 
   All I Have to Give
   This song was pretty close to eliciting the same fangirl giddiness in me. Nick’s smile while he sings “but I’ll be there to make you smile” would melt my heart each and every time. Plus the hat dance. The silhouetting.
5. 
   The Call
   I loved that this video felt more like it was a little mini movie than a music video! It was so suspenseful and scene transitions from one Boy to the next, the mask ripping and realizing Howie wasn’t Howie! It was the greatest video ever.
6. 
   Shape of My Heart
   I don’t know what it is about this video. They’re really not doing much other then auditioning for a play or something or watching someone auditioning. But I think the blue tint plus the song itself is just so beautiful to me. And I love watching Nick fooling around and laughing with the other guys.
7. 
   Quit Playin’ Games (With My Heart)
   This video made me laugh, the dancing in the rain, the “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I like it” faces/poses that they were making. I think this is more nostalgia than me loving the video. But the dancing in the rain was pretty great 🙂
8. 
   Show ‘Em (What You’re Made Of)
   I loved how raw and naked the Boys were in this, it’s just so simple when you compare it to the other videos they have done. Plus the song lyrics are so great, I love that this was written by Kevin and AJ for their kids. It has such a beautiful message.
9. 
   I Still
   I really liked that this video played with the different speed motions, with a juxtaposition of normal speed with the background sped up or the slo-mo and then sudden speed up. I remember watching the interview about this and being really interested in the concept of the video. Plus I also just really like this song and what Brian had said about this song being the song he would pick for fans to serenade him with. It just really stuck with me.
10. 
    Bigger
    I love the videos where they look like they’re just hanging out and having fun, and that was this video. Nick is pretty obsessed with the Japanese culture and I feel like this video is all him.

Bonus:

Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
How can I have a list of top BSB music videos without including Backstreet’s Back? Just the little ending clip where they’re all screaming is enough. But the dancing, the  costumes.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

I really wanted to read this book before I saw the movie. I knew it was going to be sad, and I knew what the basic story line was going to be, but still I was not expecting it to be quite as sad as it was going to be.

I loved the breaks  in the book so that we saw the different POV’s from the different character, like seeing what Will’s mother is going through. The first time it happened though, it was confusing when it went back to Lou’s POV cause it never states that it’s going back to Lou. But I really liked this novel, it made me really want to go out and do something. I can’t wait to see what the movie will be like and how it’ll be different from the book. Just waiting for a good day to cry my eyes out But for now, here are my thoughts on this book (spoilers ahead):

• she was the kind of woman who makes me wonder if all humans really are the same species
• “You know, you can only actually help someone who wants to be helped.” she [Alicia] said.
• I could well imagine Will pushing her away. But surely if you loved someone it was your job to stick with him? To help him through the depression? In sickness and in health and all that?
  • Kinda made me wonder if I would? When my dad was sick, his girlfriend stood by him and I was really impressed with her commitment to my dad, it wasn’t easy. There were days when I found it hard to take care of him.
• the thing about being catapulted into a whole new life – or at least, shoved up so hard against someone else’s life that you might as well have your face pressed against their window – is that it forces you to rethink your ideas of who you are. Or how you might seem to other people.
• “They’re paying her to sleep now.” [Lou’s mom]. I could hear my father’s exclamation. “Praise the Lord. She’s found her dream career.”
• re: Camilla’s garden: I needed to give my son something to look at. I needed to tell him, silently, that things might change, grow, or fail, but that life did go on.
• of your son asking you to help end his life because there’s no prospect of healing, not wanting to live like this way. That’s what he was asking me to distinguish – the small child as well as the man – all the love, all that history.
  • I never really thought about it in this way, but when I read this, it just killed me
• I had a hundred and seventeen days in which to convince Will Traynor that he had a reason to live.
• WESTLIFE!! – I was a huge huge huge Westlife fan and I got such a thrill seeing one of my fave boybands in print in a book
• Will: “You cut yourself off from all sorts of experiences because you tell yourself you are ‘not that sort of person’.”
  • I love this. I think a lot of us are guilty of this and we don’t give things a chance and we really ought to. I think that I have been lucky to have quite adventourous BFFs who have pushed me to try things that I never thought I would because of fear and because I’m “not that sort of person”. I hope everyone has friends who have pushed them to do things so that they don’t have anything to regret.
• description of hearing music live was so beautiful. I went to watch Star Trek Into the Darkness with a live symphony and there really is nothing like it. I kind of wish they could do this with every movie. It just added a beautiful layer of experience.
• I hadn’t realized that music could unlock things in you, could transport you to somewhere even the composer hadn’t predicted. It left an imprint in the air around you, as if you carried its remnants with you when you went.
• Will to Lou: “I just…want to be a man who has been to a concert with a girl in a red dress. Just for a few minutes more.”
• Will: “You only get one life. It’s actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.”
• Will: “I worked out what would make me happy, and I worked out what I wanted to do, and I trained myself to do the job that would make those two things happen.”
  • “It is simple,” he said. “The thing is, it’s also a lot of hard work. And people don’t want to put in a lot of work.”
• Will: “And I cannot for the life of me see how you can be content to live this tiny life, this life that will take place almost entirely within a five mile radius and contain nobody that will ever surprise you or push you or show you things that will leave your head spinning and unable to sleep at night.”
• Will: “Some mistakes…just have greater consequences than others. But you don’t have to let that night be the thing that defines you.”
• [dad]: “He’s who he is. You can’t make people change who they are.”
• Will’s letter to Lou: “…Live boldy. Push yourslef. Don’t settle.”

 

Zoo by James Patterson

Recently, I got obsessed with the show, Zoo (it’s on Netflix, if anyone is interested). Anytime anything I get interested in is based on a book, of course I have to read the book to see what the differences are and what similarities there were. I wasn’t prepared for how completely different things were and that made me a little disappointed because I love the show and all the characters on the show. But regardless, I was still enthralled with the book. It was a very easy and quick read, I couldn’t put it down! So below are my thoughts (spoilers ahead, sorry!):

• It was so upsetting to find out Mitch is not an actual character in the book! I love him so much! I guess they took the more badass side of Jackson from the book and made him into Mitch and took the investigative side and made it into Jamie
• Also upset that the close friendship between Jackson and Abe is only on the show and not in the book! And also Abe dies almost right away. One of the best parts of the show is the friendship between those two – except now there’s a twist about how Abe knew and why he befriended Jackson and I’m kind of freaking out
• it’s really hard to read the book and not picture the tv counterparts
• I did not know that female lions were the better hunters and is why they do the hunting. At least according to the book. I’ll actually have to look this up to see if it’s true, though I imagine that they wouldn’t make up a fact like that…
• “her English had an elegant European lilt, what I thought was a French accent – vowels in the front of the mouth, consonants brushed with feathers” > I just really liked how this was worded.
• the shared nightmare between Jackson and Chloe was interesting. It would have been really cool to see that…you know, if they hadn’t killed off Chole on the tv show!!
• interesting that in the book, only some animals are affected, and not others. Plus the fact that they’re affected in different ways – example, in lions, only the males were affected vs. the show where all animals are infected
• WTF book Jackson and Chole got married and had a son!!?? and we’re never going to get this on the show now
• the tv issue to why animals are turning is because of something genetic vs. in the book, the issue is that human interference with cell phone radiation and petroleum production is affecting the way that animals are interpreting pheromones is interesting. I wonder why that issue was changed…though since the solution is to not use cell phones or drive, or fly around any more among other things, it would make the show fairly boring and constrict it too much.
• “maybe human beings will start reacting to the pheromones now. Create human zombies to join the four-footed ones.” > all I can think is if this is in anyway plausible and if this is how the zombie apocalypse starts!
• “The gun lies dark, cold, and heavy in [Chloe’s] hand. She hates to touch it. She knows all too well what [the soldier] meant about needing it. He meant thats he should use it on Eli and herself rather than be eaten alive.” > what a horrible choice to have to make…shoot your own son or let him be eaten alive by the affected animals. I can’t even begin to imagine.

• 

  reading with Kensi on my lap

  I really enjoyed and was saddened by Attila’s story. About how he was saved by Jackson from animal testing out of compassion and how Jackson took care of him from a young age and that bond that they have. It made me so sad with how he was changing into this blood lust creature who couldn’t recognize himself anymore and made him hurt Jackson and Chloe. Later on, it was Jackson’s kindness that got to him in his haze and is what ultimately saved Chloe and her son from a brutal death. I hope that Jackson got told this at some point later. It breaks my heart to think that Jackson’s last memory of Attila was that he attacked them and destroyed his apartment just as all of this was starting.

• I wished there was a “proper” ending instead of leaving it the way that it ended. I wanted to know what happened, if the problem ever got fixed. I like having definite endings as opposed to the anything could have happened.

QOTD – 08.05.16

Just because the last few days reading Harry Potter has completely transported me back to this magical place…I think it’s time to start the Harry Potter re-read-a-thon as soon as I am done the Cursed Child.

I lamented the fact that now that I am an adult and have actual responsibilities, the ability to read all day and all through the night to finish the newest Harry Potter book is a thing of the past.