Book Tea Tag: December 2018

The Tea Tag

(Something I just completely made up- sort of)

I don't think there's something like this yet in the bookish community, but if I'm probably almost 100% wrong, so someone please let me know! I would love to take a look at it or watch it. :) For these descriptors, I'm going to try to match both a specific tea to it as well as a book.

Green Tea: cleansing, natural, calming

Tea: Sleepytime tea

Book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

To me, Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book, maybe ever. There are a few that are on that list and up for debate, but I always love rereading this one because it just calms me. I know what's going to happen, I love how the characters end up together, and I feel like my brain has been scrubbed clean after reading Jane Austen's writing.

Black Tea: energetic, first thing in the morning, bitter

Tea: Irish Breakfast tea

Book: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

This is something that gets you up and going in the morning or just otherwise moving. Irish black tea is my poison of choice for caffeinated tea here, and Queen of Shadows had me pacing and throwing s*** around. My emotions were so high strung in that book that I feared for myself when I was driving and still reading this book for the first time. Talk about a book that gets you riled up.

Herbal Tea: soothing, varied, for the flavor

Tea: Apple Cinnamon tea

Book: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

For both teas and books, I feel like I made this category way too broad. The tea that I chose personally really clears my throat. I don't if it does that for other people, but it definitely does for me. For the book, ACOMAF just soothes my soul. I love Feyre and Rhys and their journey in this book is so satisfying to read.

White Tea: super fruity (peach, melon, etc.), rare in coffee shops (at least in my experience)

Tea: Apricot tea

Book: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Christmas books are so hard to find and be good at the same time. I definitely think this book qualifies and is a real treat to read. It isn't normally kept in everyday stores though I think because it's a holiday book, which can be frustrating if you need to pick up a copy fast. Same thing with apricot tea-- I really love it, but it seems like it is hard to find a good quality.

Sun-brewed Tea: takes ages to brew, full and robust, added vitamin D (jk, I don't know if that's an actual thing)

Tea: I've never actually had this, so does this have specific teas?

Book: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

I will admit, the beginning of The Great Alone was slightly slow-paced. There were definitely things happening that kept me intrigued and invested in the story, but looking back on it, it took a huge amount of page time for the story to get to its point. It really adds to the depth of the characters though, making it a super robust developed read.

Tea for a Fancy Mug: feel super sophisticated while drinking it, beautiful designs

Tea: African Autumn tea

Book: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

For this category, I was thinking aesthetics, and so for the tea it is firstly beautifully named with alliteration and then secondly has fancy orange and spice flavors. For the book, I really love the cover of A Darker Shade of Magic. The story is fancy too, but those covers are all ones that I would definitely put on display on my bookshelf if I had the hardback copies.

Fruity Tea: slightly cloying, probably shouldn't be a tea, tea for non-tea drinkers

Tea: Blueberry tea

Book: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

A.K.A.... a gateway tea/book. That's where my mind was headed with this one and I really think I nailed it with blueberry tea and Twilight. For the tea, I hate blueberries, and yet this blueberry tea will really get my attention. And for Twilight, it is complete and pure fluff that will get people into reading more books. It has its frustrating moments, but overall can be fairly addictive.

Chai Tea Latte: really expensive, but so worth it

Tea: Dirty Chai Tea Latte from Starbucks

Book: Any new Cassandra Clare book

Dirty Chai Tea Latter = Regular chai tea latte + a shot(s) of espresso. You can imagine the price, but you can also imagine the flavor. Looking at the book, really any hardcover book will be pricey at this point, but it has always been more than worth it to me for a Cassandra Clare book. Or maybe I'm just justifying buying Queen of Air and Darkness right now on a shoestring budget.

Iced Tea: Leaves you felling cold inside, wakes up your tongue, sharp contrast

Tea: Classic Sweet Tea

Book: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

In this category, I picked things that are crisp in some form or another and leaves me with chills. For two different reasons, but still... Iced sweet tea may be one of the best inventions on the planet and guaranteed will cool me down on a hot day. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer on the other hand will give me chills because it is so creepy and twisted.

Tea that Smells Good, but Isn't: you think it will be amazing, but then are let down

Tea: Chamomile tea

Book: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

I know a lot of people love chamomile tea, and I love the smell of it and think it will be great every time, but every time I end up hating it. There's no fix, no cure. Likewise, I hate the classic Ethan Frome. It is stupid, ridiculous, horribly written, and if I had to pick any book to use as kindling, it would be this one. Sorry, not sorry.


SO, I did some googling and it looks like there are some people who have done similar tags! If you liked this, I highly recommend googling "book tea tag" and reading though the first few sites, because that's what I did and I loved it. Also, for those who are much more informed when it comes to teas than I am, please ignore any glaringly stupid choices. I did my best with what I know. :)

Thanks for reading!

Preparing for Queen of Air and Darkness

My Queen of Air and Darkness Prep Kit

This is literally a week after the publication of the book, but I'm going to be starting Cassandra Clare's third book in The Dark Artifices series, Queen of Air and Darkness. I'm finishing up some assignments for the semester for the rest of today and then tonight onward it is all book time all the time-- starting with this book that will probably destroy me.

THIS IS A PREP KIT NOT A SURVIVAL GUIDE <-- lol I probably will die while reading this book

Now, while I have not had too much time to actually reread the books (because let's be honest here, they are huge with a lot of details and I am neither going to remember all of those details nor reread those books right now), I have been spending the past week preparing for this book by watching BookTube videos and reading my own posts and reviews about this series. There are a couple of major things that I am looking forward to seeing and/or hoping get resolved. Please skip over this next part if you have not read Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows because I will be spoiling things. You can resume reading after the photo of Cassandra Clare.


SPOILERS AHEAD-- DUCK AND COVER IF YOU NEED TO!

1. Livvy-- Oh God we're going to have to watch all of the Blackthorns cope and deal with this tragedy. I know it's going to break my heart because my eyes are watering just thinking about that moment at the end of LoS. I'm especially worried about Julian though because we have seen him take on so much of a parental role in his family. So not only will he be mourning as a brother and a family member, but I feel like he's also going to be bringing a lot of guilt with him that will spiral him deeper into his own darkness.

2. The Sebastian love-child-- HOLY S__T THIS HAD BETTER BE CORRECT! I have this theory that the faerie teen blonde whatever that Dru meets is the love-child of Sebastian and the queen. I got to this point right at the very end of my Lord of Shadows review and I am holding to it. I will be looking for this confirmation around every corner of this next book. And if I'm wrong I may chuck the book across the room. Then again, if I'm right I'll probably chuck this book off the roof of my house in celebration while dancing like I'm in faerie.

3. Magnus being sick-- My poor baby and all the other poor warlock/witch babies. Somewhere in the chaos of everything else in every corner of the Shadowhunter world someone needs to figure out what the hell is happening to these people and FIX IT. If Magnus dies I will not recover from that- let alone what it would mean for all the other characters and the balance of the world and the powers within this world.


4. The parabatai bond-- We all know this is the real plot of the story (see number 5 for more of what I mean). But seriously, we don't have a loophole yet that would let Julian and Emma be together! DUWCGSKBSA This element of the story is 100% going to be resolved in Queen of Air and Darkness. If it's not, I don't know why I would have read it. However, this could be done in almost any way. At this point after reading so many Cassie Clare books, the sky could be ripped open with rainbow glitter and have a sea dragon poop his blessing over the two of them and I would only be a little surprised. But one of the two of them could also die. So there's that.

5. Annabel is still a thing I guess? Honestly the main plot of this series around Annabel has kind of escaped my attention. I know it's a thing, and there's the Black Book or whatever, but with everything else going on if feels like worrying about a leaking faucet in the middle of a hurricane. I don't even know if I'm spelling her name correctly right now. It is on my radar though and I know it will probably come up in this book in a big way.

There's more than these things I know, but there's just so much to cover that I didn't want to overwhelm this post with it all. This is just a starter kit for people to prepare themselves. I didn't even touch on the potential threesome that could happen in this book. Clearly, there are things I didn't mention.

A part of me forgot how all-consuming this series is. This past week has been such a struggle to not let myself get side-tracked by this book and falling headfirst back into this world. If you still are waiting for your finals/semester/quarter/year to end, KEEP GOING. I BELIEVE IN YOU. This book will be here when we're finished and I think this may have been the best route because after I'm done with everything, I will be able to fully devote my attention to this novel.

Here's the list of what I've gone over in case you need something too: 
***Please note that it will take you hours to read/watch everything here.***
******I'm going to link to one of my favourite BookTubers. It is just personal preference because I think her videos are amazing but I'm sure there are others out there as well.******

My Posts:
Lady Midnight Review
Lord of Shadows Review
Lord of Shadows Ships

Video Links to polandbananasbooks:
Lady Midnight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgmgp0P9sJE
Lord of Shadows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgcnRC5Jrfs

I would also recommend just scrolling through Bloglovin' and Tumblr because there is some great stuff out there on this series. 

Thanks for reading and I'm so looking forward to this book!

An Unexpected Christmas by Shannon Richard Review

An Unexpected Christmas by Shannon Richard

3.92 out of 5 stars

An Unexpected Christmas was an unexpected delight.... just kidding. :) The description and the synopsis nailed this one: it is a fun romantic Christmas story will all of the perfect ingredients to make a situation unforgettable and a couple irresistible. The best thing about this story is that while it seemed a bit like a Hallmark movie at times, it wasn't too cheesy and was just the right amount of cozy. Adele and Jace were great to fall in love with as characters and it warmed my heart to see them fall for each other in this book. My one slight non-spoilery thing is that in my mind I did not picture Adele at all like the front cover of the book. Jace is fine, but I'm 99% positive that the first time Adele is fully described she's wearing all black.

SPOILERS BELOW


PLOT:
I really appreciated how this story is introduced pretty much right away; there wasn't an awkward amount of trying to set up the characters' hopes and dreams for ages without giving the characters any depth and understanding for who they are. Long story short-- it was a cute Christmas book, and it was laid out and developed really well. The ending seemed a little bit forced when Adele felt like she needed to leave Jace, but it balanced out by the end. What was most interesting to me in the plot was the introduction to the other characters. Because we get to see Jace interact with the team a bit more at the end (especially with Adele's brother), I think that the series will continue to branch out into the stories of the other players. Overall, the plot was fairly expected in almost an overly cliche way, but at the end of the day the cuteness won me over.


CHARACTERS:
Adele- I really liked Adele! It took me a quick second to get used to her character and get to know her. But I really did after only a few chapters. The only thing that was slightly annoying (and I've kind of said this already) is when she leaves Jace because she thinks that he won't have that kind of relationship with her. I get that it's important to the plot of the story, so I say that it's annoying, but I also get it. Adele was such a cool character though. I don't think I've ever read a character with her career before, which was really interesting; her attitude was so independent, which was GREAT; and her habits were so casual they came off perfectly, which sealed the deal on me liking her character.

Jace- My largest concern coming into this book is that I wouldn't like Jace because I typically do not like plots or storylines about jocks or famous people. I get that it's a thing, but I still came into this book with that. DESPITE THAT, I ended up really liking Jace's character. He was so caring for Adele that it was hearbreaking when Adele wouldn't hear him out.

WRITING: I want to visit that cabin. It seems like the perfect place for any winter vacation. There was snow, there were great rooms, cozy atmosphere, and you can be there completely alone like a mini vacation. Granted, a lot of places could fit that bill, but the way this one is described seems amazing. The entire story was filled with a lot of great descriptions that I really think added to the holiday wintery atmosphere.

PLOT:
I really appreciated how this story is introduced pretty much right away; there wasn't an awkward amount of trying to set up the characters' hopes and dreams for ages without giving the characters any depth and understanding for who they are. Long story short-- it was a cute Christmas book, and it was laid out and developed really well. The ending seemed a little bit forced when Adele felt like she needed to leave Jace, but it balanced out by the end. What was most interesting to me in the plot was the introduction to the other characters. Because we get to see Jace interact with the team a bit more at the end (especially with Adele's brother), I think that the series will continue to branch out into the stories of the other players. Overall, the plot was fairly expected in almost an overly cliche way, but at the end of the day the cuteness won me over.
CHARACTERS:
Adele- I really liked Adele! It took me a quick second to get used to her character and get to know her. But I really did after only a few chapters. The only thing that was slightly annoying (and I've kind of said this already) is when she leaves Jace because she thinks that he won't have that kind of relationship with her. I get that it's important to the plot of the story, so I say that it's annoying, but I also get it. Adele was such a cool character though. I don't think I've ever read a character with her career before, which was really interesting; her attitude was so independent, which was GREAT; and her habits were so casual they came off perfectly, which sealed the deal on me liking her character.
Jace- My largest concern coming into this book is that I wouldn't like Jace because I typically do not like plots or storylines about jocks or famous people. I get that it's a thing, but I still came into this book with that. DESPITE THAT, I ended up really liking Jace's character. He was so caring for Adele that it was hearbreaking when Adele wouldn't hear him out.
WRITING: I want to visit that cabin. It seems like the perfect place for any winter vacation. There was snow, there were great rooms, cozy atmosphere, and you can be there completely alone like a mini vacation. Granted, a lot of places could fit that bill, but the way this one is described seems amazing. The entire story was filled with a lot of great descriptions that I really think added to the holiday wintery atmosphere.
(hide spoiler)]

This book is perfect for the holiday season or maybe even just any cold season. It certainly will make you want to just snuggle up with someone and appreciate the things around you. What is even more exciting to me though is that it looks like this will become a series? I'm not sure if there is enough there to really follow Adele and Jace some more, but maybe it will follow other hockey players or maybe a sibling or something like that? I'm definitely curious though and I am really hoping that whatever it is will be another holiday/Christmas book.

Thanks for reading!

View all my reviews

Review: An Unexpected Christmas by Shannon Richard SPOILER FREE

An Unexpected Christmas by Shannon Richard

3.92 of 5 stars

An Unexpected Christmas was an unexpected delight.... just kidding. :) The description and the synopsis nailed this one: it is a fun romantic Christmas story will all of the perfect ingredients to make a situation unforgettable and a couple irresistible. The best thing about this story is that while it seemed a bit like a Hallmark movie at times, it wasn't too cheesy and was just the right amount of cozy. Adele and Jace were great to fall in love with as characters and it warmed my heart to see them fall for each other in this book. My one slight non-spoilery thing is that in my mind I did not picture Adele at all like the front cover of the book. Jace is fine, but I'm 99% positive that the first time Adele is fully described she's wearing all black.

This book is perfect for the holiday season or maybe even just any cold season. It certainly will make you want to just snuggle up with someone and appreciate the things around you. What is even more exciting to me though is that it looks like this will become a series? I'm not sure if there is enough there to really follow Adele and Jace some more, but maybe it will follow other hockey players or maybe a sibling or something like that? I'm definitely curious though and I am really hoping that whatever it is will be another holiday/Christmas book.

Thanks for reading!

View all my reviews

Ranking the Throne of Glass Series

The Throne of Glass Books by Sarah J. Maas

The Highest to the Lowest

***Takes deep breath.*** So I finished Kingdom of Ash. I'm still processing. I do know however that by the time I'm done writing that review it will be a monster so I'll break it up into normal reviews and overall ships/ a more detailed review like I did for Lord of Shadows. Until then, I can now rank the Throne of Glass books. Please note that for this, I am going to rank Assassin's Blade as its own entity- not the individual novellas. Some of these may be controversial, but they are what they are for me. 1 is the best, 8 is the "worst" (lol if that is even a thing for this series).

1. Queen of Shadows
Nothing can come near how amazing this book was. Hands down, no competition, this is my favourite book of the whole series and I think it was the best written. There are scenes in this book that still get my feelings going even knowing that they are coming or if they will all resolve. (<-- very vague I know, but I don't want to spoil anything.)

2. Kingdom of Ash
Some people may really not agree with this one, and I do have my opinions on it which I will post later. But, as a whole, I thought it was a stellar ending to a series. Is there such a thing as a perfect ending to a series? Maybe Deathly Hallows-- maybe. Given that, KoA killed it and it got my feels in all the best ways.

3. Tower of Dawn
Even though Aelin wasn't in this book, I really loved it. I'm not even a Chaol fan, but this book was so well written and the characters were so well developed that I have to give it this spot. Before reading this one, I was whole-heartedly expecting it to be annoying to read because it really doesn't follow any main characters (maybe like two of them), but I ended up enjoying the entire thing! Plus, there are a lot of great new characters from this book and the novellas are tied in wonderfully.


4. Heir of Fire
This is easily the most emotionally draining book, which might make some people want to rank it lower than this, but it's actually for that very reason that I think it deserves this spot. It isn't as thrilling or plot developmental as some of the books ranked higher than it, but the emotional development.... damn. It's hard to read, but it gets pulled off because it's beautifully written.

5. Empire of Storms
While I love a lot of moments in this book, it felt very choppy to me. I have a full review if you want read more about what I thought about this book.

6. Throne of Glass
Ah.... where it all began. This is a great book, but just in comparison it doesn't hold a candle to the depth that the rest of the books take. Looking back, it is a great origin story in a way, although that would technically be Assassin's Blade. Great start for the series though, leaving just enough hints and vague clues that all come back into play by the end of the series.

7. Assassin's Blade
This book was really cool to read, but it was too slow for me in some areas. Also, at the point that it came out, I knew it was important to read, but I just wasn't really as curious about Celeana's past.


8. Crown of Midnight 
I'm sorry, but I'm really not a Chaol fan (ducks head for cover). Outside of that, I really just feel like this book was a stepping stone for the rest of the series. It was still really good! All of the books are great, but this one just fell flatter than the others. And honestly, for me I think part of that is because I don't like Chaol as much as the other characters. Before Rowan was in the picture, I was team Dorian. 

Also, if anyone is curious, I absolutely love Rowaelin and have a whole post about them as a ship in my fleet. 

Thanks for reading!

Inspiring Quotes for the End of the Year

Inspiring Quotes for the End of the Year

December is such a busy time... coordinating end-of-year events, trying to catch up with old friends, worrying about getting gifts, hoping the weather does(n't) cancel travel plans.... and let's not even mention what this all looks like if someone is still in school.


To help get us all through the end of the year though, here are some of my favourite quotes that I find really inspirational. We can do this! Whatever your it is, you can do it!!!

*****

"You could rattle the stars. You could do anything, if only you dared." ~Sarah J. Maas

"You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful." ~Amy Bloom

"Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough." ~Richard P. Feynman

"Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire." ~Jennifer Lee

"Madness is somewhere in between chaos and having a dream." ~R.M. Drake

"Don't feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy." ~Sarah J. Maas, 

"Do what you have do to until you can do what you want to do." ~Oprah Winfrey

"Normality is a paved road: it's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it." ~Vincent Van Goph

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray." ~Rumi

*****

Thanks for reading and I hope these were inspirational for you too!

Kingsman: The Secret Service Movie Review

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Movie Review

4.35 out of 5 Stars

This movie originally came out in 2014 with its sequel releasing last year. Kingsman had been floating around my attention for a while now, but it was looking forward to seeing the new Robin Hood movie that really got me to watch this. Taron Egerton is in that film, and since watching the trailer, I was like, "I need to see some of his other films." This of course let to some basic googling and realizing that he was in this film, which had been on my list of things to watch for a couple years now.

I really enjoyed Kingsman. The cast was killer, the music was classic adventure, secret agent stuff, and I loved watching the action sequences. It just fell a little flat for me in terms of suspense and high stakes. There were definitely moments when I was really closely drawn to the screen to see what would happen next, but for the most part I just wanted to see what cool stuff the spies had to play with or what dangerous task they had to complete.


One of my favorite things about this movie was how everybody moved. That sounds really weird, so let me explain: they all seemed so fluid and agile. In the scene where Eggsy escapes the group of guys outside his house, I was just watching with amazement. Even Colin Firth seemed to move with so much more grace than usual, or at the very least, a vivacity that isn't in his other films.

The plot of the movie was pretty great too. It was slightly stereotypical, but also not. It was a classic this-one-guy-knows-what's-best, but that one guy, Valentine, was able to convince so many other people that what he was doing was the right thing. Having the focus be on the environment and "saving" the planet was also a great twist on the classic villain type that only wants to have control. As far as I remember, that was no where near Valentine's agenda.


Everyone did an amazing job in terms of acting. It was weird at first to see Samuel Jackson play a villain, but he did such a great job with it that now I will probably always think of him in this role and keep this performance in mind. And then there's Colin Firth and Michael Caine... Firth was another one where it was really odd to seem him in a role where he was kicking a**, but he pulled it off so well. Caine I feel like can be plopped into any role like this one and kill it. Looking at the younger cast members, Taron Egerton and Sophie Cookson did amazing as well. I haven't seen any of their other works yet, but based on these performances, I would be incredibly interested in seeing more from them.

I'm so glad I watched this movie. It was great fun and hilarious and overall just amazing to watch. I'm looking forward to watching the sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle at some point, probably in the near future. This was a fairly short review it feels like, but I'm too anxious to get to the next movie that my mind can't focus. :)

In general, I feel like I need to start watching more action and/or spy movies. I really enjoyed this one, so I think I would really enjoy some other ones. 


Thanks for reading!