Reading, Reading, Reading

The Jingle Bell Book Tag

December 15, 2018

Hi everybody and welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

I am sorry that I only had time to put up one post over the last week. I have had SO many tests and assignments due this week, but I only have one due next week and then I have two weeks off for winter break! Anyways, every year I try to complete one winter/holiday book tag and try to only pick books for the questions that I have read over the past year. Since I have only been reading frequently for the past three months, I don’t have that many books to chose from, but for the small time that I have read for, I have picked up some phenomenal books! I first saw this tag on “Adventures of a Bibliophile” and you can read her post here. I wasn’t tagged to do this post by anybody, but I really wanted to participate in it!

“All I Want For Christmas Is You…” – What book do you want to see under the Christmas Tree?

While I don’t celebrate Christmas (Hannukah FTW!), I asked my parents for two books this year (both of which I was fortunate to receive!). The first book I requested was “Bibliophile” illustrated by Jane Mount. I absolutely LOVED this book, and is a MUST for all book lovers a.k.a. BIBLIOPHILES! I also asked my parents for the “Darker Shades of Magic Series” box set written by V.E. Schwab. I finished the first book at the beginning of the month and unfortunately didn’t love it, but hopefully I will enjoy the rest of the series.

“Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time…” – What book that you have read this year have you enjoyed the most?

I don’t want to give away my favourite book of the year, but I have read quite a few books this year that I have loved! These include “Dare You To Lie” by Amber Lynne Nautsch and “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn, both of which I gave five stars to!

Elf – What book unleashes your inner child?

The number one book that always unleashes my inner child is always any book in “The Land of Stories” series written by Chris Colfer. TLOS is my all-time favourite middle grade fantasy/fairytale retelling series ever, and is one of my all-time favourite series in general.

“It’s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” – Which book has most festive look to it?

While it may not have the most festive look, I absolutely love the cover of “The After Life of Holly Chase”. I am currently reading this book and it is so great! It’s a sort-of variation and sort-of retelling of “A Christmas Carole”.

The Holiday – Name your favourite TWO couples…

Hmmmm… this one’s a tough one. As of right now, I’d say my favourite couples in one book were from the book “Watching You” by Lisa Jewell. Both couples had really interesting relationships, but no spoilers here! “Watching You” comes out on December 26, 2018, and my full review will be up on that exact day!

What book would you like to give as a present to your followers?

A book I would love to give all of my readers as a present would be “The Leading Edge of Now” by Marci Lyn Curtis. I absolutely loved this book and think that it is such an important one to read.

I TAG:

I hope you all enjoyed reading this tag! If you want to participate in the tag, feel free to say that I tagged you and send me the link so I can read your post!

Good Night Book Owls!

Top 5 Books I Didn’t Get To in 2018

December 11, 2018

Hi everybody and Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

Sorry this blog post is coming out so late, I’ve had a really busy day and have just been able to sit down, relax, and finally write this post.

While there are still a few weeks left in 2018, there is no way I will be able to finish all of the books I wanted to read this year in these next few weeks. And even though I got to my most anticipated ones, there are still some that I really really wanted to read before the end of the year… but there is always next year!

Shanah from Bionic Book Worm hosts a weekly feature called “Top 5 Tuesday“, which I have been meaning to participate in for a while now. I am so happy that this post fit into my posting schedule and was such a great topic! You can read the remaining Top 5 Tuesday December 2018 topics here. You can read Shanah’s version of this post here!

The first book I wish I had read this year was “Five Feet Apart” by Rachael Lippincott. This book sounds super good and like a really lovely winter read. Even though I got an ARC from Simon & Schuster (a very special one, at that), I found it very difficult to read from the particular style of binding, as it cut off basically every first or last word of the sentence depending on which page you are reading from. I think I will purchase a copy of the finished book and review it when I get around to it. As always though, I am so happy to have received a special ARC!

The second book I wish I had read this year but didn’t get to it was “The Walls Around Us” by Nova Ren Suma, which I recently bought on Book Outlet. I have been in such a thriller/mystery mood lately and I thought I was going to devour this book… if I had ever started it! I actually changed the status of this book on my Goodreads page to “Currently Reading” from “TBR”, but I found a book that was more interesting to me at the time so I decided to revert it back to TBR. I still have not yet picked it up, but I plan on doing so sometime in the new year.

The third book I didn’t get to this year was “The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide” the sixth and final book in the Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer. If you are an “OG” reader of Reading, Reading, Reading, you have probably read about this series in an old blog post from 2013 or 2014. I was (and still am) in love with this series, and it is definitely still one of my favourite ones out there! While this book was probably my most anticipated book on 2018, I never had the chance to purchase a copy or read it. I will definitely do so next year!

The fourth book I didn’t read in 2018 was “Behind Closed Doors” by B.A. Paris, which is another book I recently purchased from the Black Friday sale on Book Outlet. My mom actually recently read this book and enjoyed it, so I was planning on reading it soon. Unfortunately, I have quite a few books that I plan on reading during the rest of December so I don’t think I’ll have anytime to get to it.

The final book/series I didn’t get around to this year that was high up on my TBR list was “Harry Potter” J.K. Rowling. My close friends are always shocked when I mention to them that I haven’t read this series, especially since I am such a book worm! I have a beautiful matching cover set (first cover design is shown in the picture above) of the entire series that I stare at on my shelves all the time. I really hope to read this series during 2019, and it is one of my reading goals for next year just to read/finish the series!!! (One of the biggest reasons why I want to finally read Harry Potter is so my father will stop antagonizing me about not reading this series EVERY SINGLE DAY, and I need to get around to it just so he will stop… HI DAD!!!!)

Those are the top 5 books I didn’t get to in 2018. Did you guys also publish this post today? Drop your link in the comments and I’ll make sure to check it out!

ALSO, I am giving away a $10 Book Outlet gift card!!!!! To enter, click here!

Good Night Book Owls

READING, READING, READING TURNS FIVE & GIVEAWAY (OPEN)!

December 8, 2018

WELCOME BACK TO READING, READING, READING!!!!!

Guess what today is?!

December 8, 2018, marks the FIVE YEAR anniversary of the creation of Reading, Reading, Reading! I cannot believe that I am still writing on this book blog for all of you amazing people to read! Reading has always been a huge passion of mine, and I am so thankful that so many of you come back to read all of my blog posts. I am also very thankful to all of the publishing houses that I receive books from, and that trust me to read and review their books in a meaningful way. I am forever thankful for this opportunity.

In order to truly express my gratitude, I have decided to do a giveaway!

YOU will have the chance to win one $10 gift card for my favourite place to buy books… BOOK OUTLET!!! This giveaway is open to anyone in the world (just make sure that Book Outlet ships to your country before you enter the giveaway please).

Here are the ways that you can win:

You MUST follow me on either my Instagram (@ReadingReadingReading) AND/OR my Twitter (@ReadingReadingR). After you do that, you must come back to THIS post and comment the handle of the social media account you used to follow me so I can make sure you entered the giveaway correctly.

In addition to the mandatory entry on either Instagram or Twitter, you can add another entry into this giveaway by following my blog either via your WordPress account, or via your own email. You will only get emails for my new posts, and not anything else. If you do either of these things, please COMMENT ON THIS POST WITH THE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT USERNAME AND PLATFORM THAT YOU ORIGINALLY ENTERED MY GIVEAWAY ON so I can count your additional entry to your profile!

This giveaway will be running from December 8, 2018 (the day I’m posting this) until January 8, 2019. I will be announcing the winner on a blog post on January 13, 2019, and will be contacting you via your social media account (so make sure you check your DM’s on that day).

Thank you all SO much for an amazing five years, I’m so thankful for each and everyone of you!

If you have any questions about the giveaway, feel free to make an additional comment and I will get back to you ASAP!

Good Night Book Owls!

FINE PRINT:

1. No purchase of any sort necessary to win.

2. Following @ReadingReadingReading on Instagram, or @ReadingReadingR on Twitter is the mandatory entry. An additional entry will be added for anyone who follows me via their WordPress account or personal email address.

3. Giveaway is open to anyone internationally as long as Book Outlet ships to the country in which you currently live. Check this to find out.

4. The duration of this giveaway is specified in this post.

5. The number of eligible entries in this giveaway is specified in this post.

6. The giveaway prize is specified within in this post.

7. The number of entries received and total prizes available determines the odds of winning.

8. Winners must comply with all terms and conditions of these official rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements.

9. The giveaway winner will be notified by via the social media account they used to enter.

10. If a potential winner of any prize cannot be contacted, fails to reply to the notification email within the required time period {two weeks}, or prize is returned as undeliverable, potential winner forfeits prize.

11. In the event that a prize winner is disqualified for any reason, the prize will be awarded to an alternate winner by random drawing.

12. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and aponsor’s and administrator’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the promotion. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

13. Void where prohibited by law.

YA Holiday Gift Guide 2018

December 6, 2018

Hi everybody, and welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

The holiday season is finally upon us! Whether you are looking for last minute Hanukkah gifts, or doing some early shopping for Christmas and/or Kwanza gifts, you have come to the right place!

One of my favourite bookish trends, if you will, is a bookish subscription box. This one sounds SO COOL! It is called the “Once Upon A Time Book Club“, and is a bookish subscription box that sends you one new release YA book, along with a ton of gifts that go along with each page/different parts of the book. The month-to-month rate on this box is $34.99 with slight discounts for prepaying either 3 months, 6 months, or a year.

Another fun book subscription box is called “Bookship“. It is a book subscription box geared towards Adults who read YA! Every month you will get a new YA hardcover book along with items that go with the overall theme of the book. There are three basic plans for the box, “Flirt” (month to month payments $39.99 each), “Fling” (3-month prepay, $109.99), and “Real Thing” (6-month prepay, $199.98).

One of my personal favourite bookish gifts are box sets. If a YA book worm gives you a list of books they would love to receive as gifts, check to see if any are the first in a series, and see if there is an entire box set for the series. I love binge-reading series once all of the books have come out, and I know a lot of others that are the same way! I received this box set of the “Darker Shades of Magic” series from my Mom for Hanukah just this past week, and I have been enjoying it so far!

(insert other pictures of pages)

The last thing I would recommend purchasing for a YA book worm, is this BEAUTIFUL new book. It is called “Bibliophile” and was illustrated by Jane Mount. This is LITERALLY a book lovers bible, and it is SO beautiful to look at. Like the box set, I just recently received this book for Hanukkah and have been reading different parts of it every single night before I go to sleep. It is such a phenomenal book, and I would recommend buying this for all book lovers (including yourself!), not just YA book worms!!

That is my short and sweet YA Book Holiday Gift Guide for 2018! Do you have any other recommendations? Have you received any bookish gifts during the holiday season this far? Let me know in the comments or tweet them to me!

Good Night Book Owls!

Black Friday 2018 Book Outlet Haul

December 4, 2018

Hi everybody and Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

As some of you may know, Canada Post (the main postal service company in Canada) went on strike for a good portion of November. Therefore, a lot of packages were in (and are still) a backlog since there were a ton of delays from both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While my package took a longer time than most of my Book Outlet packages usually take (around three days), this one took about a week and a half (ordered on November 21, received on December 2 – who knew Canada Post delivered on Sundays?!).

I am so excited to share all of the books I bought with you! While I did recently made a HUGE Book Outlet order, this one is even bigger! Keep in mind, I hadn’t really bought any books in 2018 until my last Book Outlet order, so I still had some room to buy more books during their amazing 30% off regular priced books black friday sale!

To purchase your own haul of books from Book Outlet, feel free to use my link to receive $10 off your first Book Outlet order (click any of the words in this sentence to use it)!

Here’s a little sneak peek from inside the box!

This Song Will Save Your Life – Leila Sales
Price: $3.59 CAD – Bargain Book

The Smell of Other People’s Houses – Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

This Is The Life – Alex Shearer
Price: $1.20 CAD – Bargain Book

Anatomy of a Misfit – Andrea Portes
Price: $2.89 CAD – Bargain Book

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
Price: $3.59 CAD – Bargain Book

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
Price: $7.89 CAD – Bargain Book

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

Frost Like Night by Sara Raasch (Snow Like Ashes #3)
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
Price: $5.09 – Bargain Book

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Price: $7.19 CAD – Bargain Book

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Price: $6.49 CAD – Scratch and Dent

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Price: $5.69 CAD – Bargain Book

Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

Behind Closed Door by B.A. Paris
Price: $7.89 CAD – Bargain Books

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

Althea & Oliver by Cristina Moracho
Price: $4.29 CAD – Bargain Book

We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun & Susan Mullen
Price: $2.89 CAD – Bargain Book

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Price: $10.79 CAD – Bargain Book

If We Were Villains by M.L Rio
Price: $9.29 CAD – Bargain Book

Because You Love to Hate Me, Editied by Ameriie
Price: $8.59 CAD – Bargain Book

Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warge
Price: $7.89 CAD – Bargain Book Price: $7.89 CAD – Bargain Book

Tell Us Something Trip by Dana Reinhardt
Price: $5.69 CAD – Bargain Book

Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige
Price: $3.59 CAD – Scratch & Dent

Two Roads From Here by Teddy Steinkellner
Price: $5.69 CAD – Bargain Book

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
Price: $7.89 CAD – Bargain Book

A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall
Price: $3.59 CAD – Bargain Book

Did you guys pick up any amazing books during the Book Outlet Black Friday sale, or another Black Friday book sale? Let me know in the comments!

Good Night Book Owls!

December 2018 TBR

December 1, 2018

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

It is finally December! Does anybody else feel like this year has gone by pretty slowly? Most of the time I feel like the years go by quickly, but this one felt abnormally slow. Any who… December is the month of snow (yuck) and holidays (yay)! I will have a lot of exciting holiday posts for both Christmas, Hanukkah, and whatever else you may celebrate up very soon (including a YA/Bookish Gift Guide next weekend!).

I plan on reading quite a few books this month. If you read yesterdays blog post (November Wrap-Up), you will know that I sadly only read just about 1 and 3/4 books. Since I have quite a bit of reading time during the later end of this month, I have a set list of books that I hope to read and review for either this month or the beginning of next month. Fortunately, I am sent quite a few books from publishing houses every few months, and this month/the very end of November, I received a TON of Winter 2019/Spring 2019 ARCs (I will have a new “In My Mailbox” post up very soon) that I have to read as soon as possible, so I’m hoping to get through most of them this month.

The first three books I plan on reading are the “Shades of Magic” series by V.E. Schwab! I am more than half way thru “A Darker Shade of Magic” and I am really enjoying it so far. I recently purchased the entire box set from Indigo, which I posted an Instagram picture of last week. I plan on binging this series throughout the next week or two (however long it’ll take me to finish), and posting a full series review on my blog when I am finished it. I have heard an abundance of hype for this series, so I hope it lives up to it!

The next book I plan on reading is “The Catcher In The Rye” by J.D. Salinger. Like 1984, I will be reading this with a group for my English Lit class and I am SO excited to finally read this book. I bought it off of Book Outlet a few months ago and have been meaning to read it for a while. When I found out that we were reading this for my class, I could not contain my excitement!

A first weeks ago I requested “Watching You” by Lisa Jewell on NetGalley, and I got approved for it earlier last week! I have been super into Adult Thrillers lately and I have yet to read a Lisa Jewell book. This one sounds like something I would love, so I am so thankful that NetGalley accepted me for this e-ARC!

The last book I plan on reading this month is another eARC from Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley. It is titled “The Remarkable Inventions of Walter Martinson” and was written by Quinn Sosna-Spear. I requested this book a while ago, so I was so thankful to get an eARC of it! I believe this book falls in-between the Middle Grade and Young Adult sections, but I think it’s leaning towards more of a Middle Grade. Regardless, the premise of it sounds like so much fun and a great kind of book to read before the new year! The cover is also so interesting and makes the book that much more appealing.

Those are the books I plan on reading this December to end off the year! I am actually going to make another post with my Winter Break reading plans, because by then I will have all of my recent book gifts/ARCs/packages/orders (LOL), so I will have a bit more to chose from and to share for my two and a half weeks of winter break reading!

What are you guys planning on reading this month? Did you post a December TBR? Let me know in the comments, I love chatting with all of you! Make sure to check out my Instagram and Twitter, since I have been really active on both of them recently!

Good Night Book Owls!

November 2018 Wrap-Up

November 30, 2018

Hi everybody, Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

In October I read a whopping eight books, but in November I only read one and half of two other books.

I was really busy this month with school and work, so I barely had anytime to read. I am also waiting for some ARCs and a huge Book Outlet package from Black Friday (haul should be up hopefully sometime in the next few weeks… if the package ever arrives…). Therefore, I wasn’t really motivated to read a ton in my free time. I know that December will be just as if not more busy than this month, but I have my winter break at the end of this month for two and a half weeks, so I plan on getting a ton of reading done then (more on that in a few weeks)!

The only full book I read this month was “Girls of Paper and Fire” by Natasha Ngan. I received this book from Hachette Book Group Canada, and posted my review of it a few weeks ago! You can read my review here. In short, I really enjoyed it and am very excited for the next book in the series!

(Sorry for the quick pic… I just took it now in school HAHA!)

I started “A Darker Shade of Magic” by V.E. Schwab a few days ago after I bought the complete box set from my new Chapters Indigo store, and I’m enjoying it quite a bit so far. The beginning was slow, but it is finally picking up. I am about half way thru the book as of 10:00AM on November 30th, so I will see how far I can get by the end of the day… maybe I’ll finish it!

Like I mentioned last month, I am reading 1984 by George Orwell with a group for a school project. I am more than half way thru and I am really enjoying it so far! The world keeps getting more interesting, and I’m really loving all of the characters. By January I should be finished the whole thing, so I still have a while to process all of the details.

Sadly, that is all I read this month. I should have a lot more books on my wrap-up for December, not only because I have some extra much needed free time, but also because I will have a lot of new books and ARCs to immerse myself in!

How many books did you guys read this month? What was your favourite book of the month? Did you write a wrap-up and post it on your blog? Let me know in the comments, I love talking to all of you!

Good Night Book Owls!

Hi, my name is Alyssa and Welcome to my Book Blog!