2017 Year In Book Review Tag

It's no secret that I love bookish tags, so I decided to borrow this one from Marie at Hurricane and Drizzle, but its original creator is booktuber ABookTubeBook. It's based on events that happened in 2017. Usually I do The Perpetual Page Turner's End of the Year Survey, but I started doing it and found I just hadn't read enough to make each answer different enough, and there were so many questions that it started feeling tedious, so I decided to change things up a little this year. 

First Ever Female Doctor Who: Favorite Female Protagonist

This one is tough because I think almost all of the books but two that I read this year had female protagonists. I think I'd have to pick either Lara Jean from the To All the Boys I've Loved Before trilogy or Harper from Why I Loathe Sterling Lane, even though she's on another part of this tag. I didn't love Lara Jean in the first book, but I grew to really like and understand her as the series went on. As for Harper, I totally loved her from page one and really got her as a character, largely because I feel like I was her in high school. 

Gcc Cuts Ties with Qatar: An Author You Cut Ties With

No one immediately came to mind, but I guess if I had to pick I'd go with Lauren Oliver, unfortunately. I loved the Delirium trilogy, but didn't like Panic very much, and never got around to Vanishing Girls. I was super psyched for Replica but didn't read it until this year, but was extremely disappointed in it because the writing was so boring and simple and the story was very predictable. I will not be reading Ringer, needless to say, and to be honest, I might be a little more skeptical about picking up a book by her now because I've only liked a couple books by her.

La-La-Land Oscar Mix-up: A Book That Surprised You

I'm definitely going to have to go with This Is How It Happened for this one. I was not expecting to like it at all, or even honestly to read it in the first place, because I assumed it would be a cliche car crash YA book, which is so 2000s. However, this book really surprised me because it wasn't a cliche and the writing was super excellent. There were a lot of aspects of this book that I did not expect, which made me really like it.

Hurricanes and Earthquakes: A Book that Rocked Your World

OMG This Darkness Mine was by far the most shocking, exhilarating, bizarre book I read this year. My review of it was basically incoherent because I was suffering from one of the worst book hangovers I've ever had, and, truth be told, I am STILL not over the weirdness that was this book.

Louvre Abu Dabi: Favorite Cover Art

This book is probably going to feature on this list a lot, but I'm going to have to go with When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. The book cover photo is just so delightful and happy and captures the spirit of the story so perfectly. 

Muslim Ban: Favorite Diverse Read

I was originally going to pick Dimple for this one, too, but I'm already using it in two spots, so I'm going to be brave and choose another diverse book. For this one, I'd have to say either I Believe in a Thing Called Love or Kids Like Us. I Believe in a Thing Called Love was so fun and awkward and entertaining, and Kids Like Us was really beautifully written and was such an intricately told story.

Italy Doesn't Qualify for World Cup: Most Disappointing Book

I had a hard time coming up with this one, fortunately, but this was partially because most of the books I didn't like, I expected not to like. The worst book was by far STAGS, which I just reviewed and dubbed one of my most hated books of all time, but as for a book that I expected to like and was disappointed by, I'd have to say Nayyirah Waheed's poetry collection, Nejma. I adored Salt to bits and pieces, but unfortunately, I did not have the same experience with Nejma, and didn't understand a lot of the poetry and found it sub-par.

Prince Harry Engaged: Favorite Ship

Definitely Dimple & Rishi from When Dimple Met Rishi. I just loved this book so, so much that I can't help but write about it multiple times on this list. However, if I had to pick a book I haven't written about, I'd go with Harper and Sterling from Why I Loathe Sterling Lane. Those two are so sassy and perfect for each other.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Most Anticipated Book

Probably either Caraval or Whichwood, which I embarrassingly still have yet to read. I wasn't excited for Caraval at first, to be honest, but I eventually got swept up in the hype from the book community, and let me tell you, this book lived up to it and even exceeded the hype. It was such a gorgeously written and imagined story and I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel, Legendary. 

Beautiful Books: NaNoWriMo

Beautiful Books is a feature by Cait of Paper Fury. Over the weekend, I answered part two of the questions on our NaNo novels, because I missed part 1, so today I'll be answering the Part 1 questions on NaNo stuff.

1. What inspired you to write your novel, and how long have you had the idea?

I've actually had the idea for quite a few months, and even wrote about 5,000 words of it before I dropped it so I could rewrite those words and finish it during NaNoWriMo. The story is inspired largely by the death of one of my best friends from high school, as well as my love of books. Writing this novel is turning out to be both difficult and cathartic because of the subject matter, and I'm still really worried it is too depressing for YA, but I'm trying to push those thoughts out of my head for now and to just get down a draft.

2. Describe what your novel is about!

- Bisexual and anxiety rep

- Bisexual anxious girl falls for her best friend, but also meets her favorite writer at a bookish convention (think BEA or BookCon) and falls for her, too

- Chocolate mousse tortes

- Dealing with the grief over her friend's suicide

- Dealing with the guilt of feeling like it should have been her who died

- Lots of f/f sexy times

- Book blogging

- Book editing

3. What is your book's aesthetic?

As I was making an aesthetic board on Pinterest, I realized the colors coincide with the colors of the bi pride flag, and I am really quite pleased with this:

4. Introduce us to your characters!

My MC doesn't have a name yet, but she's going to dye her hair blue, is a book blogger, is bisexual, and has anxiety/depression.

My MC's best friend who she falls for is named Beck, and she has black curly hair, plays the cello, and is very outgoing.

The other love interest, the author, is named Rose, has pink hair, has a lot of deeper mental health issues that will be revealed throughout the book, is 19, smokes, and is very spontaneous and adventurous. 

5. How do you prepare to write?

Well, my plan was to outline the whole thing on Halloween, but that did not happen. Mostly I do a lot of thinking and panicking because I don't know what's going to happen. Plus I bake. A lot. Lots of baking.

6. What are you most looking forward to about this novel?

Writing the romance between the best friend and the other romance between the MC and her favorite author. I'm looking forward to having two f/f romances and turning the love triangle trope very bisexual.

7. List 3 things about your novel's setting.

- Is near NYC, but a lot of it will take place in NYC

- Lots of diner happenings

- I don't know a third thing. I have honestly not thought much about the setting.

8. What are your character's goals and what stands in the way?

My MC's main goal is to find something that will bring her hope after her friend dies and her struggles with anxiety and depression get worse. Basically, she is the one who stands in her way, as well as her romance with the author, which will get increasingly toxic as the book goes on.

9. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

She is more confident in herself and her sexuality, and realizes that sometimes just being "okay" is enough.

10. What are your book's themes? How do you want readers to feel when the story is over?

Even though my book will revolve a lot around mental illness and suicide and grief, I want it to be an ultimately hopeful story. Self-worth and building up self-worth and confidence will also be a major theme. Taking care of oneself is also a big part of it, and I really want to show a teen character with a mental illness getting the proper help she needs and taking care of herself.

Beautiful Books: NaNoWriMo Edition

Beautiful Books is a feature for writers by the glorious Cait of Paper Fury, which is clearly the best blog other than mine (haha). This round of beautiful people is focused on NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, of which I am a participant writing draft 1 of Bisexual Bookish Novel.

1. Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

This is my mental state:

But in reality I think the novel is going well. As of the writing of this post, I have about 8,000 words, which means I've been clocking in at about 2,000 words per day, which is pretty good. However, my mental state is a bit head desk, and I am freaking out internally because HOW AM I GOING TO THINK OF 42,000 MORE WORDS?!?!?!?!?! But also there is excitement because I didn't quit after day two like I usually do.

2. What's your favorite sentence (or paragraph)?

The first one:

"When I get out, the first thing I notice is the sun."

Don't ask me why I like it so much. It's so banal.


3. Who's your current favorite character in your novel?

Probably my MC's love interest, Beck, who is a questioningly bisexual cellist. She is very talkative and worries about the MC a lot and is very happy they are going to the same college together in the fall (as of now).


4. What do you love about your novel so far?

How bookish and bisexual it is. There are going to be 2 female love interests, and the MC is a book blogger, and her mom is an editor for a small publishing company.

5. Have you made any hilarious typos or other mistakes?

Well, my MC has breakfast for four pages in chapter four because there's so much going on in her head, but I'm not as good at the outside stuff in a first draft, so that amused me a lot.

6. What is your favorite to write: beginning, middle, or end--and why?

I think I'll like getting to the middle because it's where the actions will happen and where the goals of my MC will take shape, and where the love triangle will happen and a lot of other fun things I'm planning. And depressing things, because it is a Sad Book.


7. What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best?

- Chocolate chip cookies are my weakness. Also melted chocolate chips that I eat with a spatula. Also copious amounts of tea, but I am running out and need there to be the holiday sale at Teavana so I can buy more
- I love listening to music while I write, which my writer boyfriend totally doesn't understand. I need calm indie music to listen to, a la The Head and the Heart, or, currently, Grizfolk.
- I like to write most at night. Maybe it's because I have a sense of urgency of getting in my words before I sleep, but I always feel like my creative juices get going right after dinner-ish time.


8. How private are you about your novel while you're writing?

Usually I'm very quiet about writing because it makes me feel pressure to have people know about it, but this time I'm writing about it on Facebook, Twitter, and to my boyfriend and my family because I need the extra encouragement. Plus, it's fun to talk to people about writing, even if what you talk about might change in a later draft.


9. What keeps you writing even when it's hard?

This novel is very personal to me, and I feel like it's an important story to share. Also, I feel like writing something so queer is like an act of resistance against the current Trump regime, so that is motivational. Also, my boyfriend is a sweet writing angel who tells me I'm talented and encourages me throughout the whole process, and I love him for it (we met in creative writing class our freshman year of college, so we know each other's writing fairly well).


10. What are your top 3 pieces of writing advice?

OMG, I don't think I'm an experienced enough writer to give advice, but I'll give it a shot:

- have lots of snacks. Snacks, caffeine, and tea are all amazing motivators.
- keep reminding yourself that you're writing because you love it.
- talk to other people about your writing. It'll be fun and motivational to have cheerleaders and people who support you 10000% helping you along during the hard times

26 Bookworm Questions

Someday, dear readers (you exist, right? Raise your hands if you exist!), you will learn of my love of bookish tags. I never get tagged because I am a teeny tiny just born blog, but I love to steal them from bloggers who do actually get tagged. This tag of 26 bookworm-y questions is one I'm borrowing from Cait of Paper Fury.

So, without further ado, here are the 26 bookworm questions...

1. Favorite genre?

CONTEMPORARY. Give me all the contemps, from the fluffy cotton-candy romances to the dark and emotion-punching heartbreakers. I love them all.

2. Plot you've always wanted written but isn't published yet?

Multiple POV book about teens in group therapy. Would probably fall under the emotion-punching heartbreaker category mentioned above.

3. What are your "turn away" tropes?

• hetero love triangles 
• dystopian worlds with ferris wheels
• manic pixie dream girls
• glorified abusive relationships
• insta-love
• girl who thinks she's plain but everyone else thinks is gorgeous
• girl who's "not like other girls"
• books about writers whose writing is actually terrible

4. What was your first ARC?

This book from Abrams called The Peculiars that I ended up giving away and never reading and was then never approved for books from Abrams ever again on NetGalley (oops).

5. What was the last lie you told?

That I was confused by something a friend did. The truth was I just thought it was stupid.

6. How tall and how tall do you wish you were?

5 barely 1. I wish I was model height. Not gonna lie, would like to walk a runway once.

7. What is one movement you are very passionate about?

I am not sure how to interpret this question but...I'll say the feminist movement. I was a gender studies major in college. All about the feminisms. As long as it's intersectional. If it ain't intersectional, it ain't feminism.

8. What is the best compliment you've ever received?

Honestly I cannot remember. Probably something music-related, since that is what I've received the most compliments on. Also when my boyfriend, who is a very good writer, compliments my writing even though he's not a YA fan.

9. Name two weird quirks about yourself.

1) I have an irrational fear of tapeworms and tsunamis

2) my right thumb is much shorter and fatter than my left thumb. My mother and my aunt also have this quirk, so I guess it's a genetic thing.

10. Name the first thing you see when you look straight ahead.

My computer, obvs ;)

11. What is your favorite book quote?

Okay, this is going to sound really strange but...I don't have one? I'm not really the type of reader who makes notes of favorite quotes. Although, I do really love the quote from Ignite Me from Warner about wanting Juliette to be his best friend. That is a good quote.

12. Name one talent you have.

Music--I play flute, and I've recently taken up violin again. I double majored with music performance in college and would like to think I am pretty good at the flute at least, and I would like to be good at the violin once again as well.

13. Favorite underrated book and why.

This is All by Aidan Chambers. It's huge and very heavy in more ways than one, but it amazed me even at a young age how a male writer could capture so many different aspects of a young woman's life.

14. If you could tell younger you one thing, what would it be?

Beware 2016.

15. What is one thing you remember that sparked your love of reading?

I've always loved books, but I have many memories of my parents reading to me as a kid.

16. Unpopular bookish opinions you stand by

• We Were Liars is a terrible book
• I don't really care about having a signed book personalized to me
• I like to dog-ear pages
• I don't feel the need to read ARCs before their release date
• You can like an author's book and not like them as a person, and vice versa

17. Name a book where your ship sank

Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian. Actually, two of my ships sank in that book.

18. Worst ending ever

I spoiled Belzhar for myself and thank goodness, because that was the worst twist ever. Also, see We Were Liars above.

19. Name 3 auto-buy authors.

1) Jandy Nelson

2) Tahereh Mafi

3) Sabaa Tahir

20. An author you liked better after their second book.

• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
• Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Truly Madly Famously by Rebecca Serle
• P. S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

To be fair, these are all second books in a series, not necessarily second books, but I'm fine with cheating a little.

21. What bookish world would you NOT want to be a part of?

Panem, hands down.

22. What character's special power do you wish you had?

I just want to be generally magical, I guess.

23. Do you prefer ARCs or finished copies and why?

I like both for collecting purposes. I like having the ARC of things so I can feel special for having a copy of something before it was released into the rest of the world.

24. Do you have any phobias?

Tapeworms and tsunamis, as mentioned above. Also I am very afraid of failing. I am a major perfectionist and beat myself up over every tiny mistake I make and it is a very bad habit.

25. Biggest childhood crush?

Um...no?

26. What was the last book to make you cry?

I don't cry often when I read, which is weird because I do of course get very emotionally invested in books. I think I've cried the longest when I read Laura Weiss' Me Since You, which was a while ago.