Friday, February 28, 2014

Virtual Chair #17: Marianne & Jennifer from Boricuan Bookworms


Today sitting on the Virtual Chair are two of my new favorite bloggers, Marianne & Jennifer! I love how honest and entertaining their reviews are. Don't forget to visit their blog Boricuan Bookworms and follow them on Bloglovin.


  • Can you explain your blog’s name?


When we first started the blog, we went through tons of names before landing on "Boricuan Bookworms"; we wanted a name that basically explained our blog, but wasn't terribly overused. We finally landed on Boricuan Bookworms after a really long time debating! "Boricuan" means from Puerto Rico or Puerto Rican descent. And well, we're Bookworms, so... :) 


  • How long have you been blogging?


The Blog has been live since June 5, 2013, but we've been actively reading and reviewing much more time before that in Goodreads. 


  • What language, besides English, would you like to learn?


Marianne: I know a little bit of Portuguese, so I'd really love to know more of that. And I'd also love to learn Italian, French, or Russian (or all three!).

Jennifer: A year or so ago I was learning Italian but left it incomplete after too many books to read. I get sidetracked easily when it comes to books. I'd like to continue this year, and also learn French, Portuguese, British English (that accent...), German, and maybe even more if I've got the time! 


  • Have you ever bought a book just for its title?


Marianne: *sighs* Yes. I've bought tons of books for its title just because everyone keeps raving about them. I've sometimes been disappointed by the hype. 

Jennifer: If you haven't you're lying. A title is a fundamental part of a book as much as the cover, summary, and the story itself. Some times I've bought them by how attractive they sounds, the relations it might have to things I like, plus suggestions. 


  • What’s your favorite sound?


Marianne: I love hearing nature. (Sounds cheesy, I know!) It's just like when it's really late at night, and you go out to your backyard and all you hear is the trees and the wind and the occasional animals... I like it :) 

Jennifer: I love the sound of the school bell at 3pm :D That's heaven... But I also like the sound of nature, to experience the same sounds people before me have heard, and hopefully others after me will too. My most favorite, like Marianne, is at night. The silence of the city going to sleep, the night animals going about, the coquies doing their nightly song, it's amazing. By the way, coquies are animals, like tiny frogs, only found in Puerto Rico. 


  • Do you prefer reading long or short reviews?


Marianne: I love reading long, ranty reviews. But I also love reading short, praising reviews. I think that when you hate a book you have more to say than when you love a book. 

Jennifer: Short and simple, straight to the point are good, sometimes I don't have much time to read reviews. But long, ranty ones are good too since they can convey more points if they like or dislike a book. Also, I've noticed that the longer they are, the surer it is that you'll laugh at the ridiculousness in a book, or the swoony and great things too. 


  • Do you ever read the ending of a book before finishing it?


Marianne: NO! I used to do that and ruined so many AWESOME surprises.

Jennifer: In 2009 I did. I read the last sentence of Breaking Dawn while barely reading Twilight the first time. Now I don't. I might know a few spoilers, but I always incline more to being surprised with the whole tension building of the book. 


  • Name a book you didn’t expect to like but did.


Marianne: The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (Didn't sound like something I would like, but it was great!) 

Jennifer: The Hunger Games. I expected the worse about some random bread-throwing blonde boy but it turned out to be much, much more than that and way better. 


  • How far into a book can you tell if you are going to like it or not?


Marianne: I usually give a book about 40-50% before I decide if I am going to like it or not. I rarely leave books unfinished, but I usually know what rating I'm going to give it half-way through. 

Jennifer: 10% most of the time. If I don't like it I try to give it more time. if I reach 40-60% and don't like it still, I might leave it unfinished. It all depends. I don't like doing that, but time is precious and sometimes I just feel like I shouldn't torture myself. 


  • What’s your favorite time of the day?


Marianne: When it ends. Haha! That sounds really cryptic. It's just that I'm a night person, so I love it when the sun goes down. Also, everything seems calmer at night. 

Jennifer: Night. I can be alone in my room, without noises, family bothering, just myself in my fortress of solitude, a good book, Netflix, or a story on the making. Guess why I'm usually sleeping during the day... 


  • Bad book habit?


Marianne: I dog-ear pages! I can't help it! If I really love a part, I can't highlight it (because that is a horrible thing to do to your books!), so I make a small (almost invisible) little crease at the corner of that page. I love going back to my books and seeing what pages I marked.

Jennifer: Not making a single mark or scratch on it. Way past that, now I dog-ear and mark with a pencil. I still can't get into pens, and probably won't either. If I'm staying with these books, might as well mark what I loved most of them. I 'm too perfectionist and that's a way of coping with it, being kinda destructive with them. My bad habit is now being under controlled with another one that has it's perks too :)

Thank you girls for answering my questions and being awesome!! 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Pic2Book Wednesday Challenge #88

Guess the Book Title



This is a weekly challenge where you guess the book title just by looking at the pictures. This game is inspired by the game Scene it? and it's one of my favorite challenges in it! If you want to participate and don't want any spoilers don't read the comments. I'll post the answer of this challenge in next week's challenge.

What's this book's title?

Hints:
  • This is the 5th book in the series
  • This book will be published on July 29th
  • A book by the same author of this book was made into a movie



Rooms by Lauren Oliver

Rooms


Thanks to:  


For participating in last week's challenge!!! 

Monday, February 24, 2014

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater Review

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)


Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same.

Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life.

Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...
I don't know what is it about these books that every time I finish them I feel like a part of me goes with them. Dramatic, right? I'm in love with this series. The thing is that I don't remember feeling this way about Maggie's previous books. I loved The Wolves of Mercy Falls series (except for book 3), and I didn't like The Scorpio Races. But I feel different about The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves! The Raven Cycle is up there with my favorite series ever.

When I first started this book I was so confused, and the same happen to me with book 1. But once I got into it and relaxed my brain everything made sense, and I just didn't want to leave the characters and their world. It's like my brain has two different settings. Setting #1 is for regular books. Setting #2 is for books like this one. With the books in setting #2,  I can't just start reading and understand what's happening. I have to submerge myself in the world. I have to think like one of the characters. I have to be them. The Dream Thieves demands to be your one and only priority when you read. That made it a lot harder to let go of the characters when I finished it.

In The Dream Thieves,  we are introduced to new characters. At first I was a little afraid because I thought that these characters would mess up the chemistry between the old characters. But that didn't happen. The friendship between Blue and the boys grew even more. The new characters brought a new dynamic to this book. I even liked crazy Kavinsky. That guy was a psycho and kind of funny at the same time. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with the Gray Man and Blue's mom Maura. Their conversations were really funny and full of tension.

One of the aspects I love about The dream Thieves is the relationships between the characters. Maura and her mom don't have secrets between each other. They can read one another so well. It's beautiful to see that in a young adult novel. Another important relationship I have to mention is between Gansey, Adam, Roanan and Noah. These guys love each other so much. They would do anything to protect each other. It's lovely to read about this kind of friendship.

The Dream Thieves was a great addition to the series. The plot was amazing, and I'm very happy with the twist and secrets I learned. I'm also very excited with where Maggie is taking Ronan's character. Ahhhhhh! I can't wait for the next book!


Note: Did you guys know that Will Patton is the audiobook's narrator? I LOVE him! 



Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Pic2Book Wednesday Challenge #87

Guess the Book Title



This is a weekly challenge where you guess the book title just by looking at the pictures. This game is inspired by the game Scene it? and it's one of my favorite challenges in it! If you want to participate and don't want any spoilers don't read the comments. I'll post the answer of this challenge in next week's challenge.

What's this book's title?


Hints:
  • This book will be published on September 23th
  • L.O. are the authors initials
  • There's 1 word in the tittle


Forget Me Not by Stacey Nash

18130928



Thanks to:  
For participating in last week's challenge!!! 

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Cinder by Marissa Meyer Review


Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes I’m afraid of posting a negative review of a book that everybody loved except me. This is the case with Cinder. I just didn’t connect with the main characters that much. This is not exactly a negative review, but just me pointing out what didn’t work for me. I liked the book, but I didn’t love it.


Before anything, I have to say that the plot was very interesting. Trying to figure out what was this disease that was killing everyone and Cinder being a cyborg were the highlights of the book. Also, the writing was great, the pacing was fast, and the world building was incredibly well done. Despite the fact that I didn’t get the main characters, I did connect with one character in this book! Iko was my favorite. She was so much fun and cute, and I hope I see more of her in the next books. I’ve seen/read many Cinderella retellings, and I can say that Meyer gave us something a lot more original than just your regular Cinderella story.

What made this book 3 stars for me was the two main characters. Their relationship felt a bit forced. I tried really hard to feel something for their “relationshipbut I couldn’t. I couldn't even tell if Prince Kai was interested in Cinder in a romantic kind of way. I can’t pinpoint why I feel this way about him. Maybe it was because every time he would ask Cinder to the ball he wouldn’t give a straight answer why he was asking her? Then every time Cinder tried to tell him about who she was something else would come up or she would back out. The whole Cinder-Kai situation was bit childish for my liking.

Even though I wasn’t a diehard fan of Cinder I’m still going to give the sequel a try. I've heard the series gets better with each book.


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Pic2Book Wednesday Challenge #86

Guess the Book Title

 



This is a weekly challenge where you guess the book title just by looking at the pictures. This game is inspired by the game Scene it? and it's one of my favorite challenges in it! If you want to participate and don't want any spoilers don't read the comments. I'll post the answer of this challenge in tomorrow's post.

What's this book's title?


Hints:

  • There's 3 words in the book tittle
  • S.N. are the authors initials
  • This book will be published on February 17th

 
Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen


Thanks to:  
 
For participating in last week's challenge!!! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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