Feature and Follow: Unreading Bad and Amazing Books

Feature & Follow is hosted (obviously) by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read. 
This week's feature is Roxanne from Books and Blossoms!

Q: If you could “unread” a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?

I would unread Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, because those characters are an insult to my literary favourites. *shakes fist at Lily for calling Hermione 'Hermione Potter'* I'd also unread Vampire Academy, because I want to relive the series for the first time again!

What about you guys? Are there any dreadful books that you wish you hadn't bothered to read? Or are there any amazing ones that you want to read again? Let me know in the comments, and feel free to leave links to your blogs/posts below.

TGIF and Follow Friday

TGIF is hosted by the lovely GReads. Go and check out the blog if you haven't already! 

Reading Blues: We all get them from time to time. What helps you overcome those reading slumps when nothing seems to grab your attention?

I get in reading slumps about once every two months. I think this is because of the amount of books I read, and how quickly I tend to read them. To overcome the slump, I usually read an adult paranormal romance or urban fantasy, as these are something that I don't get to read very often as my blog focusses on YA novels. My current go-to books for when I'm in a slump are Richelle Mead's Dark Swan books, and I also have Dark Lover by J R Ward waiting to go!

Feature and Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. This week's featured bloggers are Little Read Riding Hood and Book That Thing!

Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then “broke up” with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.

I've thought long and hard about this one, and it took a while for me to come up with a character to talk about. It's not very often that I love a character and then come to hate them later on. But, of course, it has happened. It happened with Dimitri Belikov from Vampire Academy. I adored him in the first few books, but after something changed at the end of Spirit Bound, I actually became really annoyed at him. Of course, he wasn't going to be the same as he once was, but to be honest I found him a little pathetic. 

And I've just realised that both of my answers mention books by Richelle Mead! Totally unplanned, but awesome nonetheless.

Follow Friday: Do You Read Multiple Books At Once?

hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read

Today's featured bloggers are Jenni over at Alluring Reads and Justin over at Justin's Book Blog.

Q: Do you read one book at a time or do you switch back and forth between two books or more?

I tend to only read one book at a time. I used to read lots of books at once, but since I started reviewing books on this blog I have stopped doing that. I do put down books and leave them for a later date, though, when I can't get into them.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Follow Friday!

hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read

Today's featured blogger the lovely Liza over at Reading with ABC! Be sure to go and follow her, she's a wonderful person and blogger!

Q: What is the best book you’ve read in the last month? What is the worst book you’ve read in the last month?

The best book I have read in the past month is technically Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but I don't want to count rereads! So the one book I absolutely loved recently was The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

The worst book I have read recently is All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin. My review for that is here, if you want to see exactly what I thought of it. I started off enjoying it, but that changed pretty quickly. 

Happy Friday! I'll be hopping around for most of today, so feel free to leave your links below! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read

Q: If you could Weicharacters from a book meet and form an epic storyline with characters from a TV series, which characters would you choose and why?

Oh! I would so totally mix the Vampire Academy novels with the Supernatural TV show. Dean and Sam Winchester would team up with Rose and Dimitri to kick some Strigoi butt, Sammy and Dimka could have a height-off, Dean and Adrian could compete to be the snarkiest. Dean would win, because I love him and this is my story. And while I'm at it, I'll throw in Castiel and Crowely, just for some entertainment/bromance after the Strigoi are all dead after just a month. Damon Salvatore could also become Adrian's drinking buddy. 

It would be amazing.

Hosted by Crazy For Books

What is your favorite spooky book (i.e. mystery/suspense, thriller, ghost story, etc.)?

I haven't read many spooky books, but I love Darren Shan's Demonata series! Pure horror right there. I also liked Choker by Elizabeth Woods because that was some seriously creepy stuff. 

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

hosted by Crazy For Books every weekend!

Q. Many of us primarily read one genre of books, with others sprinkled in. If authors stopped writing that genre, what genre would you start reading? Or would you give up reading completely if you couldn't read that genre any more?

No, I would not give up reading! I'd be genuinely surprised if I see someone who says they would. I'm going to answer this question twice, in a way, as I read primarily YA but there are also lots of genres within YA. Firstly, if authors stopped writing the paranormal/fantasy genre then I would simply move on to another genre within YA. I took a look at my bookshelf, and realised that most of the books that I have already read are paranormal/fantasy novels. But I do enjoy other genres too! I love contemporary YA, along with sci-fi and dystopian. Especially dystopian. 

Now, if YA ceased to be written, that's another matter entirely. Again, I would NOT give up reading. No way. But I'd obviously be forced to read either MG or Adult novels. I haven't read much MG, but I do enjoy The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. I'd quite happily move on to MG if I could find books like those. But I also love adult novels as well, and I've been reading them ever since I was about thirteen years old. I love Lynsay Sands, Nalini Singh, Rachel Vincent, Patricia Cornwell... Loads of authors. 

So I think it'd be quite easy to move onto another genre, although I was miss the ones that are no longer being written terribly. 

hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read


Q. Have you ever wanted a villain to win at the end of a story? If so, which one?

You know, I've just been sat looking at my bookshelves for over ten minutes, and I don't actually think I have! I love villains. I love their presence in the story and I love their evil plans. I love it when the author goes into detail with their backstories - think Voldemort! - and I love reading about what made them what they are today. But I really don't think I've ever wanted a villain to win at the very end. I've wanted a struggle, yes. But a win? Nope.

Leave your links below, and I'll visit your blog to see what you make of today's question! It won't be until later though, I'm so tired right now and I need to sleep.

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read

Q. If you could change the ending to any book or series, which would you choose? Why and to what?

Twilight. I'd have stopped at the first book, because honestly, it wasn't that bad. After that all the series really consisted of was a suicidal idiot who ends up having her one hundred year old husband tearing into her womb. Oh, and there's some pedophilia going on in there too. *headdesk*

Q. What are you most looking forward to this fall/autumn season – A particular book release? Halloween? The leaves changing color? Cooler temperatures? A vacation? 

My birthday, as well as a whole load of books that are coming out soon! Books such as If I Die by Rachel Vincent, Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins and Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick. Unfortunately, I'm not going on vacation/holiday because I now have a job, and I have to save for my Australia backpacking trip next year! 

Leave your links below!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison at Alison Can Read.

Q. In books like the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series the paranormal creature in question "comes out of the closet" and makes itself known to the world. Which mythical creature do you wish would come out of the closet, for real?

Shapeshifters! I'd love for shapeshifters to be real. Werecats especially. I'd find one, and convince them to make me one of them... Somehow. It would be much easier for shapeshifters to blend in to society than it would be for vampires. Your regular vampire, anyway, meaning the ones that burn in the sun and eat people. 



Hosted by Crazy for Books every Friday
Q. Do you have any pets?


I'm pretty sure I've answered this question before, but yes, yes I do. I have two border collies called Jensen and Trevor.Jensen is a puppy (cookies for anyone who knows who she's named after!) and she's red and white, Trevor is nine years old and he's black and white. I also have four cats, all siblings from the same litter, named Lizzy (tabby), Lily (black and white), Rosie (black, but with tabby patterns, if that makes sense) and Bertie (ginger and white). They all have different markings, which is rather cool if I do say so myself. 


Leave your links below! I hope you all have an amazing weekend.

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read

Q. How has your reading habits changed since you were a teen? or If you are still a teen what new genres are you in love with currently?

I'm 18, so am still in my teenage years even though I am technically - if not mentally - an adult. New genres... There aren't any 'new' genres I'm in love with, as I've always been a fan of pretty much everything. However, I will say that since reading Between Shades of Gray, I am loving the historical/war time period genre. I've only read a couple of novels in this genre recently, but I have acquired The Book Thief as well as a few others. Also, although I haven't had a chance to dive in yet, I have a few fairytale retellings that I am dying to read. I read Flawless and loved it, so I'm hoping these other retellings will be just as good!

Hosted by Crazy For Books

Q. Let’s talk crazy book titles! Highlight one or two (or as many as you like!) titles in your personal collection that have the most interesting titles! If you can’t find any, feel free to find one on the internet!

Ha! I love crazy book titles. My favourite one has to be Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach. This is a children's book for adults, apparently. Every time I hear about that one I laugh out loud. I don't have it, but I think I'm going to have to buy it just to say that I do! Out of books that I actually own, I don't think I have any with wacky titles. Apart from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which is more just really long and a pain in the butt to type than wacky.

Feel free to leave your links below and I'll try my best to visit your blog! And don't forget to enter my Beauty Queens giveaway, it's international!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

When did you realize reading was your passion and a truly important part of your life?

From an early age, I think. I've always loved books and reading, and I always tried hard to find the right books for me while I was in primary school. Most of the other kids were reading books for their age group, but I wanted to read other books for slightly higher age groups, as I found most of the ones for my age too simple. I set out trying to find the best books for me, and the more I read, the more passionate I became about books and reading and literature in general. 

I can't put an exact age or time frame on it. But I can say that book blogging has made me even more passionate about reading than I was before!

In light of the Summer Solstice. Also known as Midsummer...let's talk about fairies. What is your favorite fairy tale or story that revolves around the fae?

I actually haven't read many fae novels. The one that springs to mind is The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. A lot of people have probably said this. This was the first fairy-centric book that I read, and I absolutely loved it.

As for my favourite fairytale, I love the story of Rapunzel. Does that count? :D

Follow Friday!

Q. Genre Wars! What's your favorite genre and which book in that genre made it your favorite?

Come on, just one favourite? Really? I don't know how to choose. 

I really love dystopian novels. Really really love them. But at the same time, I feel that some books can get a bit repetitive if they aren't done well. A lot of dystopians have the same sort of theme. But I guess that can be true with any genre. 

I also LOVE paranormal, of course. There are so many different things that can be done with paranormal - and fantasy, let's throw fantasy in there too - and I have read so, so many books within these genres. It hasn't become boring in the slightest. 

Another genre I enjoy is historical fiction, but I haven't read many of those. To be honest, I can count the number I've read recently on one hand. 

Overall, my greatest loves are dystopian and paranormal/fantasy novels. I'm cheating, you say? I don't care; I can't choose. I love all sorts of books! *grin*

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Q. The magic book fairy pops out of your cereal box and says "you and your favorite character (from a book of course) can switch places!" Who are you going to switch with?

Rose Hathaway, without a doubt! Her life is action packed, she is incredibly strong and knows how to fight, AND she has a hot mentor/boyfriend/person around her 90% of the time. I'd definitely swap with her! When can we arrange a date?

Q. Who is the one author that you are dying to meet?

Just one? Aw, man. Erm... I'm gonna have to go with J K Rowling. I've been a fan of hers since 1999; I think she definitely comes first! Funnily enough, I did almost meet her. I went to the HP6 premiere in London two years ago and she stood literally three metres away from me. Unfortunately, it was pouring with rain - as usual - and she had to get inside quickly. So I never got a chance to talk to her/ask her to sign my book.

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?

Over a normal week - meaning, when I'm not revising for exams - I usually read two to three books. As I have more hard copies of books to review, I tend to read those first and then I read the e-books that I need to review. I don't really listen to audio books, but I did get the whole Harry Potter series for my iPod - ready for my holiday!

What book-to-movie adaption have you most liked?  Which have you disliked?

I really liked Fight Club, and I thought My Sister's Keeper was a good movie too. Although I haven't read either of the books. Oh! And the movie adaptation of Cirque du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant. It was okay enough for me to like it. As for what I didn't like, well, there probably aren't that many as I don't tend to compare books and movies. I can't, otherwise I get frustrated! Although, I really REALLY dislike the Twilight movies. I can't stand the acting. My ex-boyfriend was obsessed with Twilight and New Moon, as so he used to make me watch them with him all the time. And then I watched Eclipse with my friend. I will not be paying to see Breaking Dawn.

Leave your links below! :)

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Q. It's circle time. Time for us to open up and share. Can you tell us FIVE quirky habits or things about you? We all have them...

1. I am obsessed with The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and Doctor Who. The former two in particular, but you already knew that, right?

2. My sleeping schedule is non-existent. I spend a vast majority of the night on Tumblr, Blogger and V-D.net and then I complain when I have to get up at 7am.

3. To choose which book I read next, I sit and stare at my bookshelf for a good half hour. 

4. My favourite smells are petrol (gas), mint and vanilla biscuit. If you don't know what vanilla biscuit is, I suggest you go and find out.

5. I let my bedroom become really messy, and then all of a sudden I get an urge to clean it. It works well for me.

Q. If you were given the chance to spend one day in a fictional world (from a book), which book would it be from and what would that place be?

How am I supposed to answer this one? Okay, erm... I'll do a top five!

1. Ixia/Sitia from The Study Series. 

Just so I could meet Valek and fall in love with him. 

2. Harry Potter Universe. 

Obviously. 

3. Inside Out Universe. 

Strange choice, yes. But it's only one day. And I'd make sure I met Jacy *swoon*

4. Divergent's world.

I think it could be fun... as long as I wasn't killed or anything o.O

5. Psy-Changelings World by Nalini Singh

I want to be a shapeshifter. That is all.

Leave your links below! I'll try to visit all of you, but I have to go to the dentist first, so it'll take longer today. >.< Have a great weekend!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?

Ten? *Whimpers* 

- The HP Series

- The VA Series (obviously, series count as one book!)

- Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

- The Iliad by Homer (Just to say that I've read it!)

- Angelfire by Courtney Moulton

- Goodnight Mister Tom

- Black Beauty

- The Secret Garden

Then I'd leave space for two of the longer books that are on my TBR shelf at the time.

Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead. (And the VA graphic novel!) I'm so excited and nervous about this one book! Is it August yet?

What about you? What's your most anticipated summer release? Could you pick 10 books to take to the bomb shelter? Leave your links to this week's hop below!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is an awesome way to for book bloggers to interact and find each other. 

This week's question is:

If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?

Yes, of course! For all the authors that I love, I plan to buy their whole collection. Doesn't everyone does this?

Follow Friday is an opportunity to discover and follow other book related blogs! Want to join? Check it out at Parajunkee.

What is on your current playlist right now?

I'm actually in the process of making a playlist for summer. I'm in a very summery mood, as the weather has been excellent this week. A few of the songs I have at the moment are:

- Stereo Love (Edward Maya)

- California Girls (Katy Perry)

- A Party Song (All Time Low)

- Skyway Avenue (We The Kings)

- Smooth (Santana & Rob Thomas)

What about you? Leave your links below!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

 "Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her."

*Spoilers from The Dead-Tossed Waves*
Currently reading: The Dark and Hollow Places

Catcher's gone through a lot. In TDTW he was bitten by a zombie, and was thought to have been turned. He lost everything. All his friends, his family.. even his life. Thankfully, it turned out that Catcher is actually immune. He carries the virus, yet he does not succumb to it, meaning he can walk among the undead and not have them tear him to pieces. He doesn't feel as though he can get close to anyone, in case he accidentally passes the virus along. He's really struggling, and yet he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect Gabry, Annah and Elias. 

In short: I love him.

"Do you have anyone that you can discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her."

Well... Not really! I often tell my best friend, my mum or my little brother about a book that I'm reading, but as they don't really like to read there is only so much I can say! My best friend reads more adult books than I do (I think she thinks she's a tad superior, haha) and so we don't really have any tastes in common. Although I have convinced her to download Vampire Academy on her Kindle... now she just has to read it!

Leave your comments and links below! What are your answers? Have a great weekend everyone!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Question

Inspired by the inane twitter trend of #100FACTSABOUTME, GIVE US FIVE BOOK RELATED SILLY FACTS ABOUT YOU.

Silly facts, eh? Okay.

1. I'm slightly OCD. I bet that a lot of you are, really. All the books in a series have to be matching sizes and covers on my shelf. If I have to get covers shipped over from the US then so be it! Also, if I have one book in a series, I have to buy the rest. Even if I haven't read the first book. 

2. I have a never ending TBR pile and wishlist. Seriously. I want every book.

3. I don't have a bookcase! Can you believe it? I really need to get round to buying one, but at the moment my books are sorted into various piles around my bedroom. Which is the smallest bedroom in the house!

4. I often worry that hard copies of books are going to run out. As in, people are going to stop printing them altogether and just sell e-books. Because of this, I refuse to buy e-books and stock up on hard copies.

5. In the past, I have gone through a lot of phases with my reading criteria. Last year, I read mostly adult books with a few YA thrown in. But at the end of 2010, I rediscovered my immense love of YA. I am so happy that I did. I can't see myself ever leaving this genre now!

Question

 If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?

Just one? *thinks, and keeps thinking for ten minutes* It depends if I could choose the terms, really. For example, if I was to put myself into the Vampire Academy series, I'd have to be friends with Rose and Dimitri's girlfriend. If I was to be in The Mortal Instruments, I'd want to be a Shadowhunter. So.. my answer is that there are too many to choose from, but the top five would be:

1. Vampire Academy
2. The Mortal Instruments
3. Harry Potter (of course!)
4. Soul Screamers
5. The Saga of Darren Shan

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Question
How did you come up with your blog name?

My answer to this is pretty boring. When I first started my blog, I didn't know it was going to turn into a book blog, and so I just posted the most random things. It was called 'Coconuts and Cream' back then. It's the first thing that popped into my head, to be honest. 

But then, back in September, I stumbled across a couple of book blogs and I was simply amazed. I mean, who knew that people actually blogged about books, eh? 

Of course, I couldn't go around blogging about books with a ridiculous, non book related name... and so I changed it to Books of Amber. That was another name that just popped into my head. I didn't want anything too out there, but I also didn't want a blog called 'Amber's Reviews'. So, here we are. (I told you it was a boring answer!)

Question
 "Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?"

I only read one at a time, but that doesn't mean that I don't leave books unfinished so that I can go back to them. Before I started blogging, I used to read a couple of books at a time, but now I can't do it. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I finish books so fast now, I don't actually have time to pick up another book to read along with my current one! Although, I currently have five or six books that I started, but then put down again to read something else. I will pick them up again soon!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Question

Share your current fav television show! Tell us a bit about it...

I have two favourites that I just can't choose from. The first is the CW's Supernatural (Friday nights, 9pm EST) starring Jensen Ackles (<3) and Jared Padalecki. They play two brothers who are supernatural hunters. They travel around the US (and at one point they were in the UK!) hunting "monsters" such as demons, ghosts and vampires. The show is currently in its sixth season, and I'm certainly hoping there's more to come! It's such a fun show, and watching the brothers' relationship is one of the main draws. As well as Jensen (see below). Dean Winchester has some of the best lines on television.

Quote:

[after being arrested for murder, fraud etc]

Henricksen [special agent]: You think you're funny?

Dean: I think I'm adorable.

My other favourite show is also on the CW (Thursday nights, 8pm EST). It's The Vampire Diaries, starring Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley. As you may be able to tell, the show is about vampires - and occasionally the odd werewolf. There's too much going on to really explain, but it is such a great show, you should definitely check it out if you haven't seen it already. Damon Salvatore (IS), again, has some of the best lines of television. He needs them, really, as he has so much going on in his life at the moment. And Nina Dobrev playing two characters at once definitely makes for an interesting viewing!

Quote:

Damon: It's cool not growing old. I like being the eternal stud.

Question

Do you ever wish you would have named your blog something different?

Some of my long term followers may remember that I actually renamed my blog a while back. When I first started this blog, I didn't know it was going to be primarily for book reviews. I was going to keep it as a travel journal for when I visit Australia. But that took too long coming around (2013!) and so I decided to turn this into a book blog. And of course, "Coconuts and Cream" wasn't the best name! So a couple of months into blogging, I renamed my blog. I'm glad I picked "Books of Amber". It fits nicely, and I think it has a nice flow to it.