[Review] Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana

15:00 Cilla 2 Comments

I came into Mirror in the Sky imagining it to be a sci-fi novel about an alternate universe where the lives of Earth's teenagers and their Sliding Doors, alien doppelganger somehow intersect. That's not what happened. This is more of a contemporary novel about the power of 'what if's rather than a sci-fi, and I wish I'd known that before I started. While the premise is intriguing and I enjoyed the depiction of high-school friendships, I kept waiting for something else to happen.

Is Peeking at the Ending a Bad Reading Habit?

15:00 Cilla 23 Comments

There was a time when reading ahead, let alone peeking at the end of a book, was an absolute no-no for me. When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out, my friend told me that she'd picked up a copy at the bookshop and flipped right to the last page then and there. I was aghast. Aside from immediately forbidding her from telling me about it, I thought reading ending first would completely ruin the reading experience.

And yet, recently I've found myself flipping ahead, or even glancing at the last page. I'm not sure why! It's happened both with books that I like and books that don't hold my attention, so it's not necessarily me looking for a reason to keep reading (though it is possible in some occasions). There's a lot of discussion about how smartphones and multi-tasking is rewiring our brains and making us less patient, which is something I've noticed with myself when I'm studying. I find it more difficult to focus on one task for an extended period of time, something I used to be quite good at. It's possible that this is affecting my reading too.

The journey is supposed to be the exciting part of reading, right? If you already know how the story ends, then there's no mystery, anticipation, or surprises. Or is there?

In many ways, we know how most stories will end. The couple will get their happy ending. There's a 95% chance the revolution will succeed, or the orphan is going to save the world. Knowing this doesn't put me off reading romance or fantasy, because I don't know what will happen in the middle. I'd be more annoyed if someone told me of a major plot twist that happens in the middle of a book. Of course, there will be books where knowing the ending would completely and utterly ruin the fun (like if someone had told me who had died at the end of the fifth and sixth Harry Potter). On the whole though, is it really bad to peek at the ending before you finish reading?

#TheReadingQuest Readathon Sign-Up

15:00 Cilla 2 Comments

I usually avoid readathons because I'm not very good at them, but this one looks so fun, I couldn't resist. Plus, I'm going to have two weeks of holiday in the middle of August, so that might help! Anyway, here is my sign-up!

If you haven't heard about this readathon, Aentee at ReadAtMidnight made #TheReadingQuest based on a video-game quest. In this challenge, you’ll be embarking on a journey to conquer your TBR pile through a series of stages. You’ll read new stories, gain experience, and level up a character of your choosing! The quest will take place between Sunday 13th August to Sunday 10th September, 2017.

For more information, read the master post here on Aentee's blog. A big shout-out to CW at Read, Think, and Ponder for creating the gorgeous arts for this readathon!

You can choose one out of four characters, each with their own quests, and I picked to be a Knight! Knights fight their way through the First Across path, with stages inspired by action and weaponry.

#TheReadingQuest TBR

↠ The First Book of a Series: The Diviners
This book has been on my shelf for ages, and it's time to tackle it. I quite enjoy Libba Bray's other works, so I'm looking forward to reading this. (If only it wasn't so big!)

I've managed to pick four out of the above books from my shelf, so if this goes well, I'll be really crossing them off a really long-standing TBR. Wish me luck!

[Rewind] July 2017

15:00 Cilla 3 Comments

There's really not much to rewind this time! July has been a rather dismal month in terms of blogging. I fell into a reading slump too, though funnily enough finished two 5-stars books immediately after. I do have some things to talk about though, so I hope you'll read on!

New to My Shelves

Reviews

Other Things on the Blog

Challenges Progress

Around the Blogosphere

In Life

In Store for Next Month