Last Few Days of School, Ramadan, and May

Hi guys,

I’ve been putting off blogging for a while now. As always, I’ve been incredibly busy–but moreover, I just haven’t felt like it. I haven’t felt like reading, or blogging, even when I did have the time and energy. It’s Ramadan and also the end of high school for me and I’ve been much more preoccupied with actual…life. As of right now I’m really not as interested in the things I used to be when I blogged constantly.

And it kind of hurts to say this, because I’ve been ignoring the truth in my head for so long, but I don’t think I’m going to be blogging much on here anymore. I don’t think I’ll ever quit, or stop entirely. I might post something once a month or when I feel like it. But as of right now–where I am in life–I just am not feeling it. Besides not wanting to read in general, I need to work on improving my life before college starts. There are so many things I want to do, so many things I need to do, and thinking about blogging is only stressing me out.

Not to mention, at this point, the spark that was in my old posts is almost gone. It’s just me. As much as I try to not think about it, I’ve been really unhappy the past couple months. I could even generalize and say the last couple years. I need to be more thankful, I need to change my mindset…I can’t read and blog happily when I’m like this. Maybe I’m making the wrong choice–maybe I need to get back into these things to force my head out of this. But I still think this post needed to be written because I like closure. I like making sure people know what’s up even if I do eventually come back to blogging. Without writing this I would feel like I left blogging with a gap, with emptiness. It’s time for me to accept the fact that I’m moving on. I can’t act like I’m the same person I was four years ago when I first made this blog.

That being said, this blog has also added a lot to my life. For so many years it’s what I turned to when I needed to rant or be excited about something. I wrote about it on my college applications. It was my hobby, my thing. That’s why it feels so weird to say I don’t think it’s my thing anymore. And quite frankly, I don’t know what my “thing” is right now. I need some time to figure things out for myself, to get a new hobby that doesn’t involve staring at a computer screen.

So–for now, this is some closure, mainly for myself rather than anyone else. If you took the time to read this, thank you. If not–this was for me, anyway, so oh well.

Love,

Silanur

Nova Teen Book Festival 2019

Hi guys! Today I wanted to write about my experience this year at the Nova Teen Book Festival, which I attended a couple weeks ago.

On March 30^th, I went to the Northern Virginia Teen Book Festival, which is an annual festival that I have been attending since 8^th grade. The event is really great because it aimed for YA readers, with about 25-30 newly published authors coming to the event. They have panels and fun activities throughout the day that you can end, with a big signing line at the end where you can meet all the authors. It was my 5^th time going there, and my 4^th time volunteering at the event. This year was different than past years because the location was changed for the first time, and I didn’t know what to expect. I was also a bit wary because last year I thought that a couple of the adults who ran the volunteering were kind of rude, though luckily, I had no problems this time around.

My volunteering shift was around the afternoon, closer to the time slot in which all the authors convene at the end of the day and everyone gets into a large signing line. Because there were so many volunteers, I basically had nothing much to do and could just hang out and attend some of the author panels. I listened in on the main panel, but left a little after to meet my friend. The best part about volunteering for the event, in my opinion, is that you don’t have to wait at all for the big signing line at the end of the day. If the coordinators know you’re a volunteer, you can go in and not have to wait in the huge lines that inevitably form to meet the authors. The past two years, since I’ve been reading less and have not been as in touch with Young Adult literature, I haven’t really had a list of authors I really, really wanted to meet. But even when I don’t want to read a book super badly, at the event, I have always tended to buy extra books and get them signed. This year was not any different in that sense for me.

I ended up meeting four authors at the event: Libba Bray (I got a copy of The Diviners signed), Emily X.R. Pan (The Astonishing Color of After), Katherine Locke (The Girl With the Red Balloon), and Heidi Heilig (For a Muse of Fire). This was the first year that I had not read any of the books that I got signed, which usually makes it kind of awkward to meet the authors, especially if you’re not used to it. Fortunately, I would say I’m pretty much a book-event expert at this point, so no awkwardness ensued. (Or so I hope!)

In a way, the event was kind of bittersweet for me—not because it didn’t go well, because that’s not true, it was quite pleasant—but because I realized I wasn’t as excited as I used to be attending NTBF. The event was well-run despite there being so many people, all the coordinators were nice, the authors were super sweet, and I bought new books—which was all great! I really don’t have much to criticize about it. The issue was that I felt cut off, less passionate. The festival used to be one of the highlights of the year for me. I counted down for it and immediately went home to write a blog post about my experience. I would get ready for the event by reading a good number of books from the author list. This year, none of that happened, because my mind wasn’t really on the festival, I don’t think. Unfortunate to say, but I was too preoccupied with college decisions and everything else happening around that time. I haven’t been reading for fun consistently in two years, either, so I couldn’t get the feeling I used to get. I’m not sure. It may even just be that at this point I’ve probably met at least 50 authors, so I’ve become desensitized since it doesn’t feel like a big deal to me anymore. (In contrast to middle school when I had met none). However, I don’t want this to make it seem like the event itself was bad. I really did enjoy it, and I would have regretted it if I hadn’t gone. It’s like a tradition at this point for me, and I hopefully will still continue to go in the future.

Thanks for reading,

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My Blog Turns 4 Today!

Hi guys!

Today WordPress notified me that this little blog–which I created as an 8th grader–turns four today. I don’t have anything planned for this post, but it made me happy to learn that I’ve been blogging for exactly four years now. Though I knew that I would blog for a while, I didn’t think four years would pass by. This blog is basically an active journal of my life throughout all of high school, and I hope even longer than that, too.

For those of you who see this post, thank you for reading even if its only every once in a while. It truly means a lot!

Love,

Silanur.

Unhauling Some Books

Hi guys!

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve written a blog post. As first semester wrapped up, I found myself with little to no time as I scrambled to put everything together. I’m now a second semester senior, and I’ve already read two books since the end of first semester! I am actually so proud of myself. I’ll be posting about about the books I’ve been reading soon.

Anyway, the past couple months I’ve been thinking a lot about the books I have that I just don’t really care about anymore. For this reason, I decided to sell them (for very cheap prices–most of them I had bought full price) and make more room. Here the books are!

Sorry for the low quality, I’m not sure why that’s happening.

Illuminae–this book got TONS of hype when it first came out…I bought it for full price, expecting to love it, and honestly thought it was mediocre. The style without a proper narrative just did not work for me. The plot? Meh. I never liked it all that much and didn’t feel sorry letting it go.

Fairest, Cress, and Winter by Marissa Meyer–these books were definitely much harder to let go of. The truth is is that though I loved Cinder when I first read it (which I decided to keep), the other books in the series were not nearly as good as I thought they would be. I was way too excited when I read them and didn’t realize that I didn’t even like them all that much. It was hard letting go because the books themselves are really pretty and I still enjoyed them, but oh well.

Eleanor & Park and Fangirl–Rainbow Rowell is overrated. (I’M SORRY I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE LOVE HER). Though I actually thoroughly enjoyed E&P, my copy was just sitting around not doing much. And though I really loved taking pictures of Fangirl because of the cute cover all the time, I never liked it. It just was not an enjoyable book for me, nor was it relatable the way I was expecting it to be.

Cruel Beauty–I liked this book, I truly did. I still do; I hold no grudges against it. I even still love the cover. But I realized I wasn’t going to be doing much with it and thought someone else might want it more than I do now.

The Secret History–I really, really wanted to like this book. But I couldn’t get through it. Not only that, but it was creeping the crap out of me. This is hard to explain, but I just wasn’t getting good vibes while reading it (especially late at night). Thus, I gave it away.

The other two books on this list I have not been able to sell, as one of them was required reading and the other I don’t think I’ll be reading anytime soon. I’ll probably end up donating them somewhere!

Have you ever unhauled any books? Did you feel good about doing the unhaul afterwards? Thanks for reading!

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Reading Books for School: I Don’t Mind it Now?

Hi guys!

As most of you probably know, I’m basically a full-time student as a senior in high school. For so many years, I resisted reading (this is a generalization, to be fair) books that were assigned by my classes for English, even when they were fiction. This is probably surprising to a lot of people who know I love reading. And I hope that none of my past English teachers happen to read my blog.

To clarify, it’s not that I didn’t read anything. I did indeed read at least one or two full books each year, but the other books–I usually ended up skimming, reading parts of them, and getting the rest of the information I needed to write properly from class discussions or online resources. Some of the books, it was because I just…didn’t have time. The past couple of years, I averaged 6 (or less, especially sophomore year) hours of sleep. I was walking and seemed to function, but I really wasn’t. All I wanted to do was sleep and I was so unhappy because all my other classes took up my time. So, I did the bare minimum to get my work for English done. And this meant I didn’t fully read the novels I was supposed to.

In addition to that, I must admit, I was quite bored with some of the books assigned. We mostly read classics with heavy language and uninteresting plots. That, plus my already tired state, made me despise the books that were assigned in school. This all changed in my senior year, or now. I decided to take AP English Literature this year, and so far, I’ve actually enjoyed nearly everything we’ve read as a class.

We started out with two plays–which I actually liked!–then read Wuthering Heights and Crime and Punishment. Sure, I won’t lie. Neither of these can be as fun as reading a modern day YA book, but they weren’t nearly as boring as the books I had read in previous years. Now, I started reading The Poisonwood Bible also for class and though I’ve only gotten through a couple pages, I’m thoroughly intrigued. It seems like my past fears about required readings has nearly passed.

What do you guys think of books that are required for school? Do you go through all your assigned readings properly, or not? I’d love to talk!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019

Hi everyone! As I write this, I am actually still on break, scheduling some posts so that my blog doesn’t die. One of my favorite things about the “New Year” is getting excited over new releases, even if I don’t end up reading them. So, here we go! Note: this list is only made up of books that will come out from January – June of 2019.

In chronological order;

1. The Wicked King by Holly Black–will be released January 8th. This is probably one of my top three most excited releases of the WHOLE year. I have been waiting for it since I finished reading The Cruel Prince and absolutely cannot wait to absorb myself back in Holly’s world. (SO, technically, this is being released as you read this–considering I am scheduling this post for January 8th!)

 

2. Slayer by Kiersten White–January 8th. I actually don’t know much about this book, but Kiersten’s stories are usually really addictive and fun to read, which is why this is on this list.

3. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo–January 29th. Another fantasy book by one of my favorite authors? Heck yea. And the COVER. I can’t even imagine how it will look in real life.

4. Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard–February 12th. I actually have yet to read the novella in between, but I know I will absolutely adore this novel since Truthwitch is already one of my favorite fantasy series despite there only being two full books published thus far.

5. Descendant of the Crane by Joan He–April 2nd. I actually don’t know much about this book, frankly speaking, but a) it’s diverse, own-voices and b) I am in love with the cover (as usual).

6. The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad–May 14th. Middle-Eastern fantasy? Hijabi author? Yes, I will support.

7. We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal–May 14th. ANOTHER MIDDLE-EASTERN INSPIRED FANTASY NOVEL. I AM LIVING.

8. Again, But Better by Christine Riccio–May 21st. Though I’m wary of approaching books written by Youtubers, Christine has consistently been one of my favorite Booktubers for years, and I would like to see what book she has written.

9. Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali–May 7th. (I know I got the book above and this one out of chronological order, but oh well). I’m not sure what to expect from this novel, but it does have two Muslim leads, so I’m excited about that.

10. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson–June 4th. This is one of my most anticipated reads of the year, considering how much I loved Rogerson’s debut novel. I can’t wait to see what other awesome stuff she has in store for us!

And that’s it for this post! I unfortunately probably won’t be able to get to most of these books when they are newly released, but I liked writing about them anyway. Which books are you most excited for in 2019?

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Reading Summary of 2018

Hey guys!

It’s the last day of 2018. On the one hand, I can’t believe that the year is over. On the other hand, I’m excited for 2019 because I’ve been waiting for this year for years. Regardless, now’s not the time to talk about this because the purpose of this post is to tell you guys about all the books I read this year and what I thought of them!

The following list is in chronological order. Because I only read 16 books total (not including four that I have yet to finish…sigh), I’ve decided I won’t have a separate post for my least/most favorite books. I’m actually disappointed with myself because this is my all time low in terms of reading–in fact, I did not even complete my Goodreads challenge of reading 20 books. Oh well.

1. An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson–I ADORED this book. I wrote a review post on it, which you can find if you click on the title of the book…but yeah. It was almost everything I looked for in a novel and I read it (relatively) really quickly. Naturally, I gave it 5 stars (and I’m still so in love with the cover, too!) 

2. Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones–3.5 stars. This book was pretty good, but I didn’t love it and thought that it could have been better had some things been done differently.

3. Sinless (Eye of the Beholder #1) by Sarah Tarkoff–I sensitivity read this novel, so I won’t be rating it.

4. The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton–3.5 stars. I actually waited suuuper long to read another novel of Leslye’s, so I was a bit disappointed by this novel. I still found it enjoyable, but it couldn’t reach up to the perfection that was The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender for me.

5. Eye of the Beholder: Prophet by Sarah Tarkoff–another book I sensitivity read.

6. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald–I read this for school, so I didn’t know quite how to rate it. Perhaps around 3.5-4 stars?

7. Nadya Skylung and the Cloudship Rescue by Jeff Seymour–Another book I sensitivity read!

8. Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas–2 stars. Actually, the more I think about this book, the more I hate it. Full of cultural appropriation (that Sarah does NOT address), nothing happens in the whole novel…I need to write a review/rant on it, but I still haven’t done so though I have drafted some things. I don’t even want to put the cover here.

9. All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney–ANOTHER book I sensitivity read! I was really big with the sensitivity reading this year.

10. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black–FIVE STARS. I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book. Anyone who knows me well knows I love faeries and dark stories. This was literally perfect for me. ❤

11. Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America–4.5 stars. I had to read this book for school but ended up loving it. I was laughing so many times throughout the memoir and really appreciated the Middle-Eastern representation.

12. Circe by Madeline Miller–5 stars. Greek mythology, beautiful writing, addictive story. What’s not to love?

13. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte–another book I read for school that I don’t know how to rate. I liked it, but didn’t love it.

14. Warcross by Marie Lu–4 stars. This was a super fun read, really fast-paced, and intriguing altogether. I didn’t think it was perfect, though, hence the 4 stars.

15. My 15th book was a novel I beta-read, which currently does not have a Goodreads page and thus I am not putting the title here either.

16. Crime and Punishment–4 stars. Again, a classic I read for school. Agian–how am I supposed to rate it?! Regardless, I actually enjoyed it very much.

…and that’s it! My favorite reads of the year were An Enchantment of Ravens, The Cruel Prince, and Circe. My least favorite book of the year was Tower of Dawn. As evident, a lot of the books I read were not for fun, unfortunately. However, I still did enjoy them (as in, they weren’t entirely terrible to read), so in the end I’m glad I read them.

Which were your favorite books of the year? Least favorites? I would love to know, especially if you have good book recommendations!

Thanks for reading,

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It’s Already December?! Reading Goals (& Other Things) for the Rest of 2018

Hi everyone! I absolutely can’t believe that it is already December. For the most part, 2018 for me seems to have passed…really quickly. It’s almost like I don’t feel the days passing by. This is so much so that I often forget that 2019 (my high school graduation year!) is coming up. It seems so strange to me, so awaited for that I’m not sure what to make of it.

I won’t make this post a writing about my year as a whole, because I think that would be more fitting for the New Year. But, I do want to do a couple things before 2018 is over forever, and decided I might as well tell you guys.

First, I want to finish at least four more books by the end of the year. Actually–even more than four–since I really want to complete my 2018 Reading Challenge of 20 books. Currently, I am reading both Crime and Punishment (for AP Lit) and Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas. Quite frankly, I am more interested by the former than the latter, which is surprising because I for so long resisted reading any classics. Also, I’m just not having that much fun with Sarah’s books anymore, but that’s a topic for a later post.

In addition, a couple months ago I had started Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi and I’d like to finish that as well. Finally, the other book that I MUST get to (hopefully) by the end of this year is Queen of Air and Darkness. Are you even surprised?! I absolutely can’t wait to read it and wish I could start it now.

My winter break is fast approaching (thankfully!) next week, so until then, I’m going to be a bit busy. Thanks for reading,

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YA Books of 2019

Hey everyone! Every year, since 2015, I’ve been publishing a post with a huge list of the following year’s books that will be released. What I do is compile a list (in chronological order) of books I know I need to read and ones I might be interested in, then publish it on here for future reference. I’m actually pretty late for 2019 at this point, but it doesn’t matter so–here it is!

As always, bolded books are ones I’m super excited about.

• The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black — January 8th
• Slayer by Kiersten White — January 8th
• The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty — January 8th
• White Stag by Kara Barbieri — January 8th
• King of Scars (Nikolai Duology #1) by Leigh Bardugo — January 29th 
• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas — February 5th
• The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf — February 5h
• Bloodwitch (Truthwitch #3) by Susan Dennard — February 12th
• The Great Unknowable End by Kathryn Ormsbee — February 19th
• Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte — February 26th
• Last of Her Name by Jessica Khoury — February 26th
• Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orisha #2) by Tomi Adeyemi — March 5th
• Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds — March 12th
• Internment by Samira Ahmed — March 19th
• Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan — April 2nd
• Defy Me (Shatter Me #5) by Tahereh Mafi — April 2nd
• Descendant of the Crane by Joan He — April 2nd
• The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala — April 23rd
• With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Avecedo — May 7th
• Nocturna by Maya Motayne — May 7th
• Romanov by Nadine Brandes — May 7th
• The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad — May 14th
• We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal — May 14th
• Again, But Better by Christine Riccio — May 21st
• Symptoms of a Heartbreak by Sona Charaipotra — May 21st
• The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos — May 28th
• There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon — May ???
• Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali — May ???
• Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson — June 4th
• Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao — June 4th
• This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura — June 4th
• The Beholder by Anna Bright — June 4th
• Gumiho by Kat Cho — June 25th
• All the Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman — July ???
• The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee — August 13th
• Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell — August 27th
• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo — October 1st
• The Beautiful (The Beautiful #1) by Renee Ahdieh — October 8th
• Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo — October ???
• Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by Cassandra Clare — ???
• Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu — ???
• Dust Boy, Ash Girl by Andy Fukuda — ???
• The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah — ???
• Misaligned by Gloria Chao — ???
• Guardians of Dawn by S. Jae-Jones — ???
• Frankly In Love by David Yoon — ???

2019 is an especially special year for me because I’m finally graduating from high school, so may these books and the year go by wonderfully!

I hope this post was at least somewhat useful–please let me know which books YOU are interested in!

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Circe by Madeline Miller | A Review(ish) Post

Hi everyone!

It has been such a long time since I’ve written a review, mainly because most of the books I have been currently reading are either for school or I’ve not been reading much at all. Regardless, today I’m here to talk about Circe, Madeline Miller’s new book. This book was given to me on my birthday by a group of my best friends, and I am so happy they bought it for me, because I loved it.

Circe is not a typical book. For one thing, books don’t usually span hundreds of years following one character. It is deeply–very deeply–rooted in Greek mythology that you may or may not know of. As a Classics student, I knew a lot of the myths in this book, even though there were still a lot that I had not heard of before. Therefore, there were somethings that I expected would happen. The beauty of this book, though, was that even if I knew something was going to happen, I only wanted to read on more fervently because I wanted to find out why said thing happened.

I would honestly say that you shouldn’t know much before reading this book. Knowing that it is about Circe should be enough, especially if you have a strong mythological background like I do. It is a beautifully written tale of love, lies, the twists and turns of mythology, and tragedies. Most of all, it is about women. I do not know what I expected from this novel. I had actually though that it might be a story of how Circe became “evil”. It was not like that. Circe was so relatable, so calm in her ways. She was logical and yet felt human at the same time. There was no decision that she made that I thought was out of the ordinary, and this is what surprised me most of all.

I loved it. (5 stars).

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