Read Play Blog: February 2015

Read Play Blog is a meme about video games and books, posted every 16th of the month. Bloggers are encouraged to answer a discussion question, and recommend a video game that is similar to a book they liked. Hosted by Happy Indulgence & Read Me Away.

What video game character would you take on a Valentines date? Recommend the game with your favourite couple!

That's a really interesting question...... Link though, probably. Link is such a cutie, you know? I also like Lydia and Ulfric from Skyrim but I'm not entirely sure how Ulfric would act on a Valentine's date.. I just have to go with Link.

Honestly, I don't even think I have a recommendation for game with my favorite couple. All the games I play don't have couples. I don't think I.. wait!

Recommendation:
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Favorite couple:

Yeta & Yeto 

See you guys next month ;)

Booking Through Thursday: February 12

Booking Through Thursday is a book blog meme presented by BTT2 at Wordpress. They post a question about books every Thursday and you have the whole day to reply back!  Let's look at this week's question:

No, no, I’m not asking if you like romances … what I want to know is what is it about stories that you love? Is it the stories themselves? The people? The plot twists?

Heather:  Um, I'm honestly a bit confused by the question.  Does it mean a.) what do we love about love stories or b.) what do we love about stories in general?
- If a.) To me it's the stories of how they get to be in love, which is why I don't like insta-love stories so much.  I enjoy seeing characters go from not liking / kinda liking / one character liking another to both characters falling in love and realizing it, and I really love being able to see the moment a character realizes they love another person.
- If b.) A combination of everything:  A plot summary will grab my attention and get my imagination going, but the writing and execution of the idea have to be good as well.  It helps to have someone I would like to be can root for and see the ups and downs of.  I do like plot twists, but they aren't necessary especially since, no offense to a lot of writers, sometimes they aren't set up well or I can see them coming a mile away.

Kaniesha: I'm going to answer that first question anyway: no. Romance novels are not for me. The whole story being about the boy and the girl ending up together? No thanks. However, romantic subplots, yes! I don't know what it is exactly, but something about the main character going through really awful things only to still be standing at the end of their journey, still able to love.. I don't know if that makes me a sucker or  not.. I mean.. I think it's just the ability to love that I really enjoy and I like seeing people fall in love and how it makes them better people and gives them a reason to make better decisions. It's just that love makes existing better, you know?

Kaniesha's January 2015 Roundup

Finished:

In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken Rating: 4/5 stars

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer Rating: 5/5 stars

Started:

Pantomime by Laura Lam

Still Reading:

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Amity by Micol Ostow

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross

The Iron-Jawed Boy and the Siege of Sol by Nikolas Lee

Our posts from January:

Kaniesha Posts: Reading Challenges for 2015

Kaniesha's Yearly Roundup #2: 2014

Blogging Through Thursday (on a Friday~): January 08

Read Play Blog: January 2015

Reading Challenge Update:

Flights of Fantasy: 0/25

Dive Into Diversity: 0/12

Debut Author Challenge: 0/10

Fairytale Challenge: 1/5

Summary:

I've finally gotten a job! Which actually means a lot less time for reading :( I don't think I'll hit my goal for 50 books this year. I don't even think I'll get CLOSE. I'm really bad at time management, but hopefully by the end of February I'll get my life together. At least now I have money to buy books : ) How was everyone else's January? Any new good releases?

Monthly Releases: February 2015

As of August 2014, Monthly Releases is a way for Heather and Kaniesha to spotlight their anticipated books for the upcoming month.

Kaniesha's:
     

February releases for me should be fun! I've seen all the hype surrounding Red Queen and I can't help but be excited for it too, plus The Sin Eater's Daughter sounds absolutely perfect. Paper Things looks like it's going to be really sad but I'm irrationally intrigued-- Seeker and A Darker Side of Magic just have super cool covers. There's my reasoning. Mark of the Thief is written by Jennifer Nielsen. After that False Prince trilogy? Heck yea, sign me up.

Heather's:
  

I never seem to have as many as Kan!  I really love Gaiman and was wondering when he'd be releasing anything new (that wasn't a children's book), so I'm super excited about Trigger Warning.  I'm not sure what's the deal with Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky since it was only a Target-exclusive short story, but maybe it's getting an ebook release?  More Lunar Chronicles!  And ofc Richelle Mead's latest is featured here.  I really need to step up my reading speed and get through Bloodlines!

Read Play Blog: January 2015

Read Play Blog is a meme about video games and books, posted every 16th of the month. Bloggers are encouraged to answer a discussion question, and recommend a video game that is similar to a book they liked. Hosted by Happy Indulgence & Read Me Away.

What games are you looking forward to in 2015?

 I actually don't keep up with video game releases too much because I don't have consoles or a high-end PC but I'm really looking forward to eventually playing:

1. Evolve [site] [wiki]

Evolve is an upcoming asymmetrical, cooperative/competitive shooter video game, developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by 2K Games

My favorite gaming Youtuber has uploaded a video of him playing the alpha and it looks really fun! (Only click if you're alright with a weird man probably using not-child-friendly language). Especially for a co-op.

2. Dying Light [site] [wiki]

Dying Light is an upcoming survival horror video game developed by Polish video game developer Techland and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

Survival and horror. That's all I need to know to know I want this game.

3. hellraid [site] [wiki]

Hellraid is a first-person hack’n’slash game, set in a dark fantasy universe based on medieval European folklore. Featuring three distinct game modes that can be played in both single player and 2-4 player co-op, Hellraid is a unique blend of dynamic FPP combat and hack’n’slash elements.

Hellraid honestly looks like a scarier, more medieval version of Skyrim and I am so here for it.

4. Eminence [site]

Win and collect new cards by taking your opponents in a high risk competitive PvP card game. Trade with friends or unlock exclusive cards from story based quests. Earn bragging rights as you climb the leaderboards to claim the top spot.

I've never been into card games but the art for this one is amazing! If you go on the site, there's a game demo and I love it! It's kind of addicting.

5. The Division [site] [wiki]

Tom Clancy's The Division is an upcoming open world third-person shooter role-playing video game with survival elements. The Division is inspired by Operation Dark Winter and Directive 51, real-world events which reveal how vulnerable the United States has become in the modern era as society has become more "fragile" and "complex". Throughout the game, the agents will find themselves caught in a worldwide conspiracy and will be forced to combat both the threats of the virus as well as those who unleashed it. When everything else collapses, the Division's mission begins...

My friend first linked me a trailer type of gameplay for this one and it looks SO GOOD. The people talking in the video are so professional and not at all like casual gamers but it's just.. it's so good. Cinematic trailer / Gameplay trailer (People playing it).

Currently playing & Recommendation: Minecraft
Surely you've all heard of Minecraft? I honestly hadn't known it was a thing until 2013, I think. But that was a major revelation year for me, I found out about a LOT of games and have been gaming a little bit obsessively since then. However, back to the point, I got a Minecraft account last month and have been in LOVE! I love Endermen, they're so cute, even when they're mad!

That's about it! Any of you guys gamers and looking forward to any game releases this year?

Blogging Through Thursday (on a Friday~): January 08

Booking Through Thursday is a book blog meme presented by BTT2 at Wordpress. They post a question about books every Thursday and you have the whole day to reply back!  Let's look at this week's question:

Do you ever weed out unwanted books from your library? And if so, what do you do with them?

Heather:  I actually do.  I used to kinda be against the idea because I wanted to keep all my books in case I wanted to reread them at a later date, but some I realized were just absolute duds to me.  I sell them to the local 2nd N Charles for store credit, so my used books get a nice new home and I can get other used books as well!  \o/

Kaniesha: Not really, though I have in the past. When I was younger people would gift me random books. I tried to make sure those went to Goodwill. A lot of my books now are in really good condition HC, so if I wanted to get rid of them, I'd give them to friends or sell them. I think I'd try to donate to the local libraries too!

Kaniesha's Yearly Roundup #2: 2014

Goodbye forever, 2014! Hello, 2015!

So, as many of you may know, 2014 was kind of a mess. A sad, dreary, intense year full of anger, hate and heartbreak. Perhaps I'm being  a bit dramatic but I'm not going to lie and say I enjoyed too much of this year, because all of the fun I had was playing video games!

But on to the books! I originally set myself a lot of goals, numbers I wanted to reach for certain things such as physical books, debut author books, finishing series, reading classics, etc. Disappointingly, I didn't actually reach many of these. I don't really feel bad about it though, cause I did pick up, read and review more than I have in a year so I'm proud of myself more than anything. My reading goals ended up looking like this (link goes to my listography list).

My Goals Summary:

• 5/7 stand-alone books (Originally it was five so I'm alright with it)
• 3/7 contemporary books (Again, originally five. Not that I reached that either).
• 6/3 series enders
• 5/5 debut author books
• 7/15 physical books (I love my Kindle too much. This is my weakness).
• 0/3 classics (Oops).
• 24/25 book reviews (Not too bad but hopefully I can improve the number next year)!

It's really not that bad when you get down to it! I'm really not that interested in classics or contemporaries so nudging myself is clearly not working. I may have to sit down and force myself to read them. Unfortunately, that's probably not going to happen any time soon.

My Stats:

• Goodreads Challenge: 64/40 (yay!)
• Books read: 53
• Books dropped: 3
• Novellas read: 8
• Pages read (includes dropped books): 20,320 (My goal was 20k! but did I really reach it? Hm..)
• Best rating: 5 stars
• Worst rating: Dropped, 2 stars

As for books I received, I didn't win as many books this year as I won last year! This isn't a bad thing nor am I complaining, I just really can't afford to buy books. Honestly, I'd gotten paid to do something and my options were along the lines of 4-6 hardcovers (I'm not really a fan of paperbacks) or as many games on Steam that I could get on sale. Games won me over, to say the least. (I actually own a good 90 video games at this point). Here are the books I gathered in 2014:

Mini-survey!

1) What was the best book of the year for you?
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. I have the hugest, weirdest crush on Ignifex. Check my review here.

2) What was the worst, or most disappointing book of the year for you?
Snakeroot by Andrea Cremer. Check out my rant here.

3) Did you discover a new author or series you're now excited about?
Silevethiel by Andi O'Connor. I actually hated the book a lot but I love her take on elves anyway. Review.

4) What books are you looking forward to in 2014?
Crimson Bound by Rosamond Hodge, both books that Sarah J. Maas will be releasing, Of Dreams and Rust by Sarah Fine, Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman, Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray, The Burning Sky #3 by Sherry Thomas, Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins, Magonia by Maria Headley, Rook by Sharon Cameron, and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Anything else will just be a fun, unexpected time.

5) What books did you read this year that you might recommend to the other book bloggers?
Anything I rated 5 stars. I'd list them all out but geez, that'd be a good two dozen books at the least.

I'm really proud of myself book wise in regards to 2014, especially because I read 4-5 books between July and September. Such a huge book slump but I read a lot and nearly (on average) wrote two reviews a month! When I've logged 400+ hours playing games in that same time, it's pretty interesting to compare.

I do hope that I do better in reference to the blog, I don't think I've had over 40 posts this year! I spend all my time blogging about kpop that I don't ever focus on books. If I want to be a book blogger I really have to kick myself into gear!

However I am really looking forward to a much better 2015~ I wish you all a prosperous and fun 2015 too :)

Kaniesha Posts: Reading Challenges for 2015

Hello everyone! Happy 2015! I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve :) So for 2015, I'm going to challenge myself more than ever and really work hard towards these goals.

Flights of Fantasy: 25 books

Hosted by Hello, Chelly and Alexa Loves Books

As a huge lover and avid reader of fantasy books, I saw TheNerdHerd's post on this challenge and just decided that I was going to participate! I usually read a lot of fantasy books, as it's my favorite genre already. Magic is my favorite thing! Plus there are a few subcategories like high fantasy and urban fantasy, I really just end up reading very many so participating in this challenge should be a breeze :) I might up my number by the end of the year if things go well. As for that, my goal for now is to read 25 and review 15.

Dive Into Diversity: 12 books

Hosted by Reading Wishes and Rather Be Reading

I'm a pretty diverse person myself, I'm mixed and pansexual, so reading diverse books should come naturally! However, I'm actually bad it and I tend to stick to the norm, with hyped up fantasies. I want to do better this year! I want to read 12 - one a month - and review at least 5 of them.

Debut Author Challenge: 10 books

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Reading debut author books is another of my favorite things, I read quite the handful last year and hope to continue that this year. Supporting debuts is awesome!

(Fairytale) Retelling: 5+ books

Hosted by The Daily Prophecy

I love retellings but I don't focus on them and I don't plan on focusing on them this year either, so reaching the Magic Mirror level is what I'd like to do for 2015 :)

So! 2015 will hopefully be a busy reading and book blogging year for me, though I still have no intention of being a super active poster. I don't want to stress myself out with books, I want to enjoy them! See you all at the end of each month to update with all my reading happenings!

Combined Post: End of the Year Survey: 2014!

So I saw that Kelley over at Oh, the Books! filled out this survey and I thought Heather and I should do it too since we rarely actually make posts together. This survey was made by Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner and it's her fifth year hosting it, but it's our first year participating! And here we go!
For the tiny bit that it's necessary, Kaniesha's answers will be in blue and Heather's will be in purple.
Also, very long post warning!

Kaniesha Reviews: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Afterworlds
Series: Stand-Alone
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Release date: September 23, 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genres: contemporary, supernatural, ghosts
Goodreads

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings… 

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.