Top Ten Historical Settings I Love

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Historical Settings You Love/Top Ten Historical Settings You'd Love To See or Top Ten Futuristic Books You Love/Ten Futuristic Societies I'd Love To Read in Books. I adore historical fiction, and I love reading and watching things set in these eras.

In a very loose order, these are my ten favourite historical settings:

1. Ancient Egypt
2. Ancient Greece 
3. Ancient Rome
4. Regency England
5. French Revolution
6. Victorian 
7. 1920s/Prohibition
8. Renaissance Italy (especially Venice)
9. Medieval 
10. Elizabethan England

I'd love to know what historical settings you guys love, as I'm always up for discovering more! Reading a book set in a new era is always interesting.

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Totally Should've Book Tag

I can't remember where I saw this book tag, but it was on someone's blog that I stumbled across. Feel free to do it yourself and say I tagged you!

1. Totally should've gotten a sequel

Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle #4) by Christopher Paolini

 I know the series was long enough already, but the ending just wasn't satisfying. 

2. Totally should've had a spin off series

Adaptation by Malinda Lo

 A spin off TV series would be good. I'm imagining a cross between Torchwood and The 100.

3. An author who totally should write more books

Madeline Miller! (author of The Song of Achilles)

4. A character who totally should've ended up with someone else

City of Flowers (Stravaganza #3) by Mary Hoffman

 I liked Luciano and Georgia, but it was not to be. 

5. Totally should've ended differently

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

 But since it's based on a true story, it had to end that way. 

6. Totally should've had a movie franchise

Piratica by Tanith Lee

  The whole trilogy.

7. Totally should've had a TV show

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore by Stella Duffy

8. Totally should've had only one point of view

Opposition (Lux #5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

9. Totally should have a cover change

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
This series has many different covers, and I don't like any of them.

10. Totally should've kept the original covers

Derby Girl by Shauna Cross

11. Totally should've stopped at book one         

Fracture by Megan Miranda

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Top Ten LGBTQ Characters

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week is freebie week, where you pick a topic "near and dear to your heart". Since LGBTQ representation is extremely important to me, I thought I'd pick my ten favourite characters belonging to this group. 70% are from TV, the rest from books and movies. (By the way, sorry about the lack of T in this list, but I know barely any transgender characters. They're out there, I just haven't come across them.)

1. Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess, played by Lucy Lawless)

2. Lucretia (Spartacus, also played by Lucy Lawless)
 

3. Agron (Spartacus, played by Dan Feuerriegel)
 

4. Saxa (Spartacus, played by Ellen Hollman)

5. Jack Harkness (Torchwood, played by John Barrowman)
 

6. Ianto Jones (Torchwood, played by Gareth David-Lloyd)

  

7. Achilles (The Iliad by Homer & The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (not the Troy version, despite the image I've used!))

8. Lisbeth Salander (Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson)

9. Piper Chapman (Orange Is the New Black, played by Taylor Schilling)

10. Alexander the Great (Alexander (2004), played by Colin Farrell (yes, the movie kinda sucks, but he's my second historical fave so we'll let that slide))

Since this is a topic close to my heart, comments are more than welcome!

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Just a head's up

I'm in the process of changing the colour palette of my blog theme, so if it looks weird for a while that's why. (I changed some of the colours today but I got tired and stopped.) I'm not too familiar with the HTML of Blogger themes so I have to use the age-old method of trial and error. It's quite exhausting.

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Top Ten 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn't

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's theme is Top Ten 2015 Releases You Meant To Get To But Didn't. I was terrible at my book-reading in 2015 (I failed my reading challenge by 3 books, noooo!) but I got a new library card today so I'm hoping that will encourage me to get on with my to-read list this year. I've already placed holds on some of these, which is a start.

 1.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

2.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

3.

  

Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray

4.

  

The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium Trilogy #4) by David Lagercrantz, Stieg Larsson (Creator), George Goulding (Translator)

5.

  

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

6.

 

Murder & Matchmaking by Debbie Cowens

7.

Anything Could Happen by Will Walton

8.

 

Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales

9.

  

Illusionarium by Heather Dixon

10.

  

The Flywheel by Erin Gough

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A Reread of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

 

Date finished: 28 November 2015

I first read Pride and Prejudice five years ago (not as long ago as I thought, actually, when I checked Goodreads) and gave it a 3-star rating. 13-year-old me didn't understand the language, but 18-year-old me found it much easier and more enjoyable to read the second time around.

I enjoyed the plot about as much as I did the first time, but as most of you will know, there isn't much to it. The story is very simple, though it is slightly more interesting than some of the other Austen novels (I say this as someone who had read all her works at 16). It's entertaining enough, but it lacks the complexity that I would expect from a classic.

What I got more out of by reading this five years later was the humour. Jane Austen wrote comedy and said herself that she couldn't sit down to write a serious novel if she tried. I didn't understand the wit as a 13-year-old as I found the archaic/formal/euphemistic language very difficult, but I appreciated it a lot more as an 18-year-old and even laughed out loud once or twice. I'm not sure whether it's due to Austen's style or characterisation that makes it so, or a mixture of both, but some of the dialogue is hilarious. While some of the ideas may not be relevant for 21st Century readers, the humour is timeless.

Something I found worth reconsidering while rereading was the characters. Elizabeth Bennet is supposed to be intelligent, while I think she is a very average woman who makes some quick remarks. That's not to say there's anything wrong with her or that I can't sympathise with her as a character, just that in this day and age she would be ordinary, not the special snowflake she appears to be in her society. Mrs Bennet and her three youngest daughters are unbearable, and Mr Bennet, who is meant to be sensible and intelligent as a contrast to his wife, is not much better. In today's society he would be a horrible sexist, and Mrs Bennet even comments on the unfairness and strangeness of his will that prohibits any of his female descendants from inheriting his property. However, while Mr Darcy's rudeness makes it hard to engage with him, his unconventionality and sense of family honour make him one of very few likeable characters in the novel.

The setting of the novel is so well-known I won't go much into it. Suffice to say, it is interesting to analyse from a feminist perspective: the women of the Regency era have very little options and decisions to make on their own, and are expected to marry as soon and as well as possible. This seems very unfair. But when you think about their society, the men have similar restrictions placed upon them, along with other expectations such as serving King and Country. So I won't make a final statement on whether this is a sexist setting or not. Also, we can't force our ideas on a society from 200 years ago as they just didn't have concepts like sexism in the same way we do.

Pride and Prejudice lacks the depth to be great literature but is instead chick lit. However, it's funny and light and has entertained readers for two centuries. Most importantly, it improves on the second reading.

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Top Ten Best Books I Read In 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's theme is Top Ten Best Books I Read In 2015 (by only 2015 releases, overall, by genre, etc).

1.

 

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

2.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

3.

Maya's Notebook by Isabel Allende

4.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

5.

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

 6.

 

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

 

7.

 

The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson 

8.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

9.

The Future Collection by Beth Revis

 10.

 

 The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Book Tag: How I Read

Thank you Nemo at The Moonlight Library!

How do you find out about new books to read?

Through other bloggers who have reviewed or mentioned new and upcoming releases. Sometimes through my mum, as she's a librarian.

How did you get into reading?

I don't remember; I think I always loved stories and books.

How have your tastes in books changed as you got older?

I don't read Jacqueline Wilson anymore, for a start! As well as the natural maturing of tastes that happens as you grow up, I don't read as much fantasy as I used to and I read more adult novels. I have a greater respect for short stories than epic series now, probably due to a shortening attention span.

How often do you buy books?

Hardly ever. I've been very good this year as I'm too poor to afford it and I don't have any shelf space left.

How did you get into reviewing books?

Younger me set up a Blogger account to keep in touch with her mummy, and since books were the light of my life it made sense to write about them.

How do you react when you don’t like the end of a book?

I have a little rant on Goodreads or Tumblr.

How often do you take a sneak peek at the ending to see if there is a happy ending?

I tend not to anymore. I've ruined a few too many endings for myself doing that, and I've learnt my lesson (mostly)!

Do you use bookmarks in your books?

Yes, although a lot of my reading is done on my e-reader, which remembers where I'm up to without me having to tell it, the clever thing.

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Top Ten Book-to-Movie Adaptations I'm Looking Forward To or I Still Need to Watch

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's theme is Top Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I'm Looking Forward To or Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I Still Need To Watch.

1. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (I loved the book and I can't wait for the film!)
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Now that I'm 18 I'm old enough to watch it and compare it to the book.)
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (I just need closure for these films, to be honest. I can barely remember what happens in the books.)
4. The Martian (I haven't read the book, but my sister and my mum loved it and the film, so I should probably watch it.)
5. Paper Towns (I don't remember this book as anything special, but I should watch the film out of obligation.)
6. Insurgent (No-one talked about this movie so I didn't even realise it had come out. I loved the books and the first movie so it's a must-see.)
7. The Looking Glass Wars (These books were really cool, so I'm curious as to how the film turns out, if it gets made.)
8. The Ruby in the Smoke (I actually watched what I think was the second (TV) movie before I read the books. Now that I've read them all I need to watch the (TV) movies, in order. Billie Piper in Victorian costume? Yes please!)
9. Anna Karenina (I haven't read the book, but I've watched an older movie adaptation, and now I want to see the newer one. I can't resist Keira Knightley.)
10. The Three Musketeers (I read the book last year, and I'm thirsty to see Matthew Macfadyen,
    Logan Lerman, Luke Evans, and Orlando Bloom all in the same movie! I'm also interested in the TV adaptation.)

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Update

I changed my blog theme again because I wanted the labels on my posts to be visible and I also wanted my sidebar info to fit without having to zoom out. Even though I tried making the font bigger on this new theme that didn't seem to work, but zooming in once makes the text readable.

I have also changed my alias to Alexandria, as that's my pen name. I may as well use the same name across all the websites I use that don't require personal details. I plan to change my real name anyway, some day.  

Another change is that I turned 18 three days ago! I don't feel any older yet, so we'll have to see how that goes. Officially I have finished high school, but I still have exams on at the moment and there is an optional graduation dinner next month (my school doesn't seem to know if it's in New Zealand, the UK, or the USA). So that's an important milestone I have reached.

And here's for some good news: I'm catching up to my reading goal for the year! I'm only two books behind schedule now.

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