Binge Club: Mozart In The Jungle and Haikyuu!!

Hey!!! How's it going? Being all busy and running around? Well, not me. This month, I became a hermit. A creature of the dark...bedroom, watching television shows for hours and hours...and hours. I, for sure have not been living under a rock all this time but I have noticed that I have been ignoring some new shows that have come out and also forgot to take note that new seasons actually exist in this reality.

So, I decided to, like with Andy Samberg's TV education: locking himself in a TV Bunker room for a year without bathing, and really just take in a lot of the shows I've been missing out on and a lot of shows that I know are good but ignored for so long...with actually showering and changing clothes.

Should Book Bloggers Get Paid?

Hey there! Wow, aren't I being a super duper trooper this month? I've been posting like wildfire. Well, expect the worse in the next coming months LOLJK...but you never know... Anyway, a lot of my discussions this month are somehow echoing a lot of the things that have been going on on Twitter. Things I didn't know existed until my Twitter feed just exploded like a bomb. It's pretty hard when you haven't exactly purged your following list and the talk just won't stop. 

But in a way, it is healthy to have opinionated people and one recent opinion ( something that's being talked about again) is bloggers getting paid for reviewing books etc, etc, etc. My response?

Disney Princess Book Tag

I haven't done a book tag in so long, it makes me sick.

Hey there! This is, I think, my first book tag of the year. You guys know that I don't really do a lot of tags but the last time, I enjoyed myself too much. Thanks again to Lady Salve of Cuckoo for Books. But this time, I ended up lost in probably my newest favorite book tag. I chanced upon Alexa of Alexa Loves Books' tag on Disney Princesses being paired with books and I was like "I AM SO THERE". Though Alexa didn't actually tag me, she did however encourage me to do the tag so for those who want to play along, you are free to do it yourself. :) The Disney Princess Tag was originally made by Soudha of Stacks and Cups.

Three (3) Princess Facts

1. Mulan will always and forever be, my favorite Disney Princess (though she's technically not a princess but I still love her to bits). She is fierce, loyal, true and beautiful and just an all-around badass. Her love for her father and her willingness to go up and beyond has always astounded me and I end up re-watching the movie for multiple times every year. 

2. My first memory of Disney Princesses was in 2000, I suppose, when my Dad rented a copy of an anniversary edition of Snow White and The Seven Dwarves. It was in this midnight blue, round tin and had Snow White holding the red, shiny apple. To this day, The Evil Queen disguised as the witch scares the bejeezus out of me.

3. The Princess and The Frog is the only Disney princess film, even to this day, that has the power to make me cry on 3 in the morning because of all the feels. It's not exactly my most favorite Disney princess film, but it's on my top 3 because of the tear-jerking abilities it possesses. 

Let's get the tag started!

Review: What's Broken Between Us by Alexis Bass

Title: What's Broken Between Us                               

Author: Alexis Bass

Publication: December 29th 2015, HarperTeen

Format: e-ARC, 304 pages              

Source: Edelweiss (Thanks to the publisher)        

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:   

A year and a half ago, Amanda Tart's brother got behind the wheel drunk and killed his best friend. Today, he's coming home from prison.

Amanda's been the one living with the fallout, made worse by her brother's recent unapologetic TV interview. People think he's a monster. Still, she loves him. It's her dark secret, until she starts getting close to Henry again--whose sister is paralyzed from the accident. 

A year and a half ago, her brother destroyed his life. Now Amanda has to decide if she'll let his choice destroy hers.

                                 

Review:

I don't really like writing negative reviews because it leaves a bad after taste in my mouth and I feel like I'm gonna be sick but I've always been honest with everyone when it comes to my reviews and this books is the first of probably a few that's going to be coming along the way, that I did not enjoy very much.

What's Broken Between Us is probably one of those books that started off really mysterious and cool and then got slapped in the face by an array of characters that felt a little too over the top.

Reading Unfamiliar or Disliked Genres and How to Deal With Them

Hey there!!! As you might have known already from all my constant Twitter plugging #shameless, I've started off my 2016 with my Bookish Resolutions. Now, I know it doesn't seem all too important, but my goal really is to comply with that or at least make the most out of each month.

However, I have noticed that I've put myself in quite the challenge. There are a few months in which I'm going to be reading some genres that are either unfamiliar to me or that I don't particularly enjoy and have to try out.

I've become accustomed to titles that feel comfortable and safe but I've also noticed that I've become lax with them and somehow bored and I need something that will make my readings a little bit more diverse.

But with genres that you're mostly really skeptical and scared to be engrossed with, how do you even deal with them?

1. Open your mind to possibilities

Review: Fans of The Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

Title: Fans of The Impossible Life                               

Author: Kate Scelsa

Publication: September 8th 2015, Balzer + Bray

Format: e-ARC, 368 pages               

Source: Edelweiss (Thanks so much to HarperCollins!)   

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:                                      

This is the story of a girl, her gay best friend, and the boy in love with both of them.

Ten months after her recurring depression landed her in the hospital, Mira is starting over as a new student at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to act like a normal, functioning human this time around, not a girl who sometimes can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby.

Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him like a backlit halo. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and secret road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.

As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible.

A captivating and profound debut novel, "Fans of the Impossible Life" is a story about complicated love and the friendships that change you forever.

Review:

This book is sad. Absolutely sad and I can't believe that the first book I've read this year was this depressing. And I've had a really difficult time coming up with these proper words to say to it.

Fans of The Impossible Life features the distressed life of three teenagers: Jeremy, Mira and Sebby using the first person, second person and third person narrative respectively. Each character has a different story to tell but all interconnected with each other. The narratives focus on the school and every day lives of the characters and how even the most fun of situations are laced with underlying depression and sadness.

Tunes Pod: Alessia Cara, Disclosure and Dresses

Hey there! It's another month and actually a whole new year filled with amazing discoveries both in books and of course, music! YAY! (This is me in blindly optimistic mood lol) Anyway, much of the stuff I listened through December were really much of last month's Tunes Pod feature but by the start of January, I was looking into a different set of pace and I found some new faves and went into loving a band anew since I've discovered a long time ago.

ALESSIA CARA


I adore this spunky girl who I think I've seen in a Buzzfeed video being interviewed. At first I was skeptical about her being on the red carpet then I immediately searched for her and MIND=BLOWN. Her music speaks to the young and particular issues that millennials face in this day and age. It's angsty, flavored and very raw. It's the right type of music to listen to when you're feeling particular rebellious on a given day.

Faves: Well, there's only 5 songs on this EP and I choose them all!!! They are just really good and I cannot wait for her to release a whole deluxe album. Someone (me) will definitely be grabbing it from the record store. 

DISCLOSURE

Book Blogging 101: It's Okay To Say It's BAD

I have been a book blogger for almost 2 years (and quite crap at it) and with the start of my "career" it felt as though what I needed to do was really get in there and involve myself with bloggers and of course, the authors. You could say in the earliest stages, I was desperate for ARCs, contacting authors and some publishers and would really stay up till 4am to take care of my new baby. Now that I think about it, I made pretty awful decisions. LOL

And with all that hard "work", I ended up getting a few authors who sympathized with me, helped me along the way, asked if it's okay to review their books so forth and so forth. These authors, end up becoming good friends. But like what the title suggested, as much as you've established a really solid relationship with the author, it doesn't necessarily mean it's the same with their book/s.

This whole issue came into my radar when a bunch of bloggers ended up talking on my Twitter timeline about ARCs, which isn't really that new in the book blogging community. Anything new that comes with the discussion would usually be about "How to request ARCs from publishers", "Blogging is not just about the ARCs" and so forth and so forth. And then the issue about if you're being honest with a review when you receive ARCs came into the spotlight and I think every single book blogger I know has been there.

I got inspired to write this post when I read Aentee of Read at Midnight's The Integrity of Book Blogging. One thing that was key about her post was HONESTY.

Misfit Talks: When It's Unfair To Be "Sober"

Hi there! It's been a while since I did a talk here about myself... It was more like "the comeback kid has arisen" kind of talk since I did come back from a really long, oh you know what I mean.

I didn't get to talk about it in detail last December but you did know through my photo journal that I had an unexpected hiatus from the blog due to a two week trip to my Mom's hometown in Capiz, which is a place in Visayas.

There, I got to see my cousins who I have not seen for 15 to 16 years and saw relatives I did not know existed, for the first time. We were like huge celebrities, my younger brother and I, and also my two other cousins who have been living in Manila. They are far luckier because they have seen most of the people I don't know.

Anyway, with all the festivities that came about: my sister's wedding, Christmas and a festival, drinking is definitely gonna be involved.

2016 Bookish Resolution!

Hi there Misfit booknerds!!! It's a New Year! WOOOHOO!!!! *deflates like a pancake* I don't know if I'm excited by anything anymore, except by the idea of new books and new friends to make. As for other experiences outside of it, I am skeptical but more scared than anything.

Anyway, since this place is my safe haven, I intend to just say to you guys my reading plans for 2016. Hopefully I'll follow through with this with a bit more excitement.

January: 

"Read 3 YA books from previous releases in 2015 + 2 January 2016 released books"

I feel like I left out a lot of previous releases from last year on the dust, especially the e-ARCs that I didn't get to read due to you know what circumstances those are, but I also wanna include some new releases from January. I'm taking it pretty mellow with my reading since my pace became pretty slow. If I do exceed my plans for January, then I'll be pretty happy.

February:

TOP 15 Reads of 2015

2015 isn't exactly a wondrous year of books for me, reading wise at least. I've only read 30 books this year. CUT ME NOW. I wish to have read much more but with all the hiatuses and the hell holes I've been through this year, I think that 30 is a fair number. I promise to do better this 2016! But here's the list of books I really enjoyed in 2015!

15. A LITTLE SOMETHING DIFFERENT by Sandy Hall

The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out. 

But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes in their relationship.

Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together....