#bookproblem

[the-book-addict]

[the-book-addict]

[reneesrockingredesign]

This is what happens when #yourmom has a #bookproblem. #christmasiscoming #isupportlibraries #bookjoy https://www.instagram.com/p/B4lAJi2ll1E/?igshid=5nik487q3ilq

[bookprincessthings-blog]

struggle of book buying

I love hardcover books but hate softcover. I hate that hc are more expansive than sc. What I hate the most is when I have to buy a bookseries in which  f.a. two books are hc and one soft. What am I expect to do? buy it like this or all as softcover??

[dweebbeep-blog]

Going to the bookstore

Me: *Looking around each shelves until you found the book*

Me: OMG!! I NEED YOU!!!

Me: *grabs wallet and there is no money*

Me: NUUU!!!!

[bookproblem]

Divergent

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

5 stars out of 5

Beatrice Prior at the age of sixteen just like every other sixteen-year-old living in her dystopian future Chicago, must choose a faction. Each of the five factions seeks to eliminate what they believe is humanities worst failure, by becoming the opposite of that trait. Each person is seen to be fit to cultivate one of these virtues: honesty (Candor), bravery (Dauntless), selflessness (Abnegation), kindness (Amity), or intelligence (Erudite). Beatrice's decision seems impossible and building a new life in the wake of her decision is so much harder, especially since life in the city is not all that it seems. 

I had several reasons for wanting to read this book, it was highly recommended in the bookstores and by several other sources I trusted. Also despite being kind of over dystopian teen fiction as a genre I like reading whats popular in YA-fic. 

In a lot of ways Beatrice (Tris) Prior is the same female protagonist we seem to keep getting over and over again. She is clumsy, physically weak, and and sees herself as unattractive. Despite this she is special, excels at parts of her training, and people are drawn to her making her a almost natural leader. For me this is almost a more general complaint about the genre then the actual book. Tris is complex and mostly likable and we can understand why she is liked by her friends and she likes them back. Even as the whole story is told from her perspective she is much less important then events around her. You root for her to win and mostly that's enough. 

The supporting cast including the male lead all shine in this book. They are complex and invoke a wide range of responses and emotions from the reader just as they need to. No character suffers for being one sided and the motivations of the villains are just as relatable as those of the heroes. This is a major strength of the book and contributes to its ability to hook you and play with your emotions. 

This book is very engaging and I blasted though it. While it did not make me cry this book was able to run me though the emotional ringer. Aside from her ability to manipulate your emotions, Veronica Roth's real strength seems to be her ability to world build. Unlike others writing dystopian or fantasy novels world building doesn't slow her down and she is able to quickly set the ground work for the society without it feeling like work. Some complain that too many questions about the world are left unanswered in Divergent but they are the kinds of questions people within a society wouldn't ask and get answered later on in the series. I believe this works in favor of the narration and feel of the book. 

I would and have highly recommended this book. If you are a fan of dystopian fiction, young adult or are interested in it based on the movie I recommend you give it a go. Maybe give the other two a skip though...

[booklover-97]

SOLUTION to a very BIG problem

Over Christmas Break, the days that my mom was not off of work, and I was at home alone, I would get  bored when I did not have any more chores to do. I went into my room, and I saw that I have no books that I want to read, because the ones that I do have, I have read them a thousand times over. I quickly wisped out my phone, and remembered that I have Kobo, a reading app where I can buy ebooks, and also read free ones. I just started reading this Romance novella called ‘The Bride and The Brute’ by Laurel O’Donnell, and it is very good. it is a twenty three chapter novel, with anywhere from 6-12 pages per chapter; which in turn is very short. This book was written to ‘tie’ people over until their next romance binge.   My problem was that I had no new books to read. The solution was that i got on my App, and read a free ebook. Happy Reading is here, whenever you are stuck, and without paperbacks. I am so very grateful for this app, I never would have thought of it, if I hadn't remembered my readers first. 

[bookproblem]

Sex with the Queen

Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman

4 out of 5 stars

Note: As a follow up (not sequel) to Sex with Kings (click for my review) it is not necessary to read on to enjoy the other.  

Sex with the Queen as Eleanor Herman's second book after Sex with Kings flips the story and focus' on the long history of queens, who like their male counterparts, looked for love, sex, and companionship outside of their marriages. This book separates its chapters thematically on a historical time period, with each section within being the tale of a specific queen from her youth all the way until her death. Focusing entirely on European and Russian history, Herman tells the tales of queens and princesses from Medieval times all the way through to the 1990's. With a focus not only on physical lust Herman shows us how adulterous queens used there affairs to gain political power, provide heirs, or as an attempt to escape miserable lives of isolation, mistrust, and powerlessness.

After thoroughly enjoying Sex with Kings I sought out more of Herman's work and was not disappointed in this follow up. 

Herman's talent for spinning a seemingly complete and entertaining tale out of multiple historical sources is in fine form in this book. Because the condition of queens having affairs when compared to kings is much less common Herman does not have the struggle of trying to cover an immense amount of material in one book the way she did in Sex with Kings. This made the choppy strange format of Sex with Kings thankfully unnecessary in this book. That change with leads to descriptions of individual historical figures stories from beginning to end solves almost every problem that I had with Herman's first book. 

This book is an very good read. It flows well and while each individual story is very gripping its format allows for it to be easily put down and picked up again at a later date. I have also found that It is still enjoyable upon re-read. The only issue I had with the book was the same question of historical accuracy I had with Sex with Kings, several times especially in the more modern sections the book came across as a little bit gossipy so I would caution readers to take the book not as a work of academia but of pop-history. 

Overall I would highly recommend this book to fans of history, historical fiction, and royal gossip and if forced to choose between Sex with the Queen and Sex with Kings I would choose the Queen.