November 2017 - Paperback Patronus

November 30, 2017November 30, 2017

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: November 2017

This is my first blog Wrap-Up post, so here’s the deal:

Bookstagram members are likely pretty familiar with these. For those of you who aren’t, at the end of each month, many of us share a post detailing all the books we’ve read in the month with star reviews for each.

This will thus be a short post. Without further ado, here’s my November Wrap-Up, which I’m pretty proud of!

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – C. S. Lewis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
North of Normal – Cea Sunrise Person ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Low Volume 4 – Remender, Tocchini, & McCaig ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Descender Volume 3 – Lemire & Nguyen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Descender Volume 4 – Lemire & Nguyen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Milk & Honey – Rupi Kaur ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nemesis Games – James S. A. Corey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Onward – Howard Schultz ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another Day – David Levithan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Broken Moon – Sarah Beth Moore ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

That’s 10 books! And I’ve already started another book, Renegades. I just won’t have it finished before December begins.

Also, I officially only have 9 books left to complete my 2017 Goodreads reading goal of 100 books. With two weeks off work starting on the 23rd, I imagine I won’t have any trouble achieving my goal. I read 100 books last year as well, so perhaps I’ll ramp it up for 2018! But that’s a story for another blog post.

I think my favourite books this month were Another Day and Onward (even though every time I picked it up I wanted to go to Starbucks to get a latte). It was also quite refreshing to read a book of poetry again for the first time in a while (Milk & Honey), and to get back to graphic novels (Low and Descender)! All in all, I really enjoyed everything I read this month. This is usually the case for me, as I very rarely encounter a book that I don’t enjoy reading, but this month was particularly good!

My December TBR will likely be my next post, so stay tuned to read what lofty goals I have for myself for the coming holiday month! I can’t wait to finish everything!

– Paperback Patronus

November 29, 2017November 29, 2017

Book Review: Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey

Nemesis Games is the fifth installment of the epic space saga by James S. A. Corey, the pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.

If you’re not familiar with the series, one of the quotes on the cover by NPR Books reads as follows: “The science fictional equivalent of A Song of Ice and Fire.” Essentially, it’s the equivalent Game of Thrones in space. And what they mean by that, in my opinion, is that you have a whole host of political strategies and wars combined with personal relationships, adventure, a futuristic setting, and really place-based, environmental struggles that come along with living in space on Mars, asteroids, manufactured space stations, moons, and other planets.

Here’s the synopsis of the book, pulled from Amazon:

“A thousand worlds have opened, and the greatest land rush in human history has begun. As wave after wave of colonists leave, the power structures of the old solar system begin to buckle.

Ships are disappearing without a trace. Private armies are being secretly formed. The sole remaining protomolecule sample is stolen. Terrorist attacks previously considered impossible bring the inner planets to their knees. The sins of the past are returning to exact a terrible price.

And as a new human order is struggling to be born in blood and fire, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante must struggle to survive and get back to the only home they have left.”

Here’s the cover:

I’m not a huge fan of the covers for the series, but you have to admit that they’re pretty impressive. One of the beefs that I have is that halfway through the series they switched aesthetic — for the first couple of books, the title of the book was in big bright letters down the spine, and for the later books they changed that to the author’s name instead. Like, why?!?!

And here’s my review of Nemesis Games!

Nemesis Games is the fifth book in the The Expanse series. It follows earlier books’ usual pattern of telling the story from multiple characters’ perspectives. However, this time, there is a twist. It is the first time in the series that the four main characters (the crew of the ship Rocinante) do not encounter the conflict of the story together.

Amos is on Earth dealing with the death of someone from his past and meeting with Clarissa Mao. Alex is on Mars trying to reconcile with his ex-wife and meeting with Bobbie. Naomi is dealing with her before unrevealed past on Ceres. Finally, Holden remains on Tycho with the head of the Outer Planets Alliance, seeing to the repairs the Roci requires thanks to her near-fatal trip through the Ring to Ilus (or New Terra, depending on what camp you’re in).

After the characters initially split up, things devolve quickly. Thus begins an exciting political dance of war that presents ambush, catastrophe, and human nature in ways which test limits and both shatter and create bonds. It is an incredible saga with great in-depth looks at the backgrounds of characters we previously didn’t know much about. It is also a fantastic set-up for what the Epilogue alludes to: an incredibly ominous encounter with some very powerful galactic beings.

All in all…

I highly recommend this to fantasy and sci-fi lovers alike! However, beware before you start: It’s over 500 pages! So, make sure you have a good chunk of time to set aside while you read, because again similarly to Game of Thrones, there’s a lot to take in. Another plus – the books have begun to be made into a TV series (now on season 3) on Syfy.

My next read is Renegades, by Marissa Meyer, as voted by my Bookstagram friends in my Stories! I’ll post a review once I’ve finished it!

– Paperback Patronus

November 28, 2017November 28, 2017

Questions & Answers: Paperback Patronus

You may have seen on my Instagram that on a recent post I was asking for questions that I could answer here on my blog!

I did both a poll in my Stories and a Q & A image post to come up with questions to answer for you so you could get to know me a little better!

In the poll, I had viewers vote between sets of questions that I would answer. So, in this post, I’ll show what the two options were, which won, and my answer to the winning question.

On the image post, I had viewers submit questions they would like me to answer, so I’ll include those and answer them as well!

Ready? Let’s go!

Stories Questions!

Q: Favourite colour or food?

Winner: Food

Answer: First, chocolate, definitely chocolate. Second, yellow curry. It’s a very close call.

Q: Favourite book or movie?

Winner: Book (As if I expected anything other than book from my fellow book worms!)

A: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. You can’t beat that discovering-you’re-a-wizard-hogwarts-for-the-first-time-new-friends-magical feeling of the first book.

Q: What do I do for work or for fun?

Winner: Fun

A: I spend a lot of my time reading (surprise) but I also train for half-marathons, play Counter Strike and Nintendo Switch with my husband, coach girls’ rugby, write, bullet journal, hang out with my best friend Joy, visit coffee shops, and attend book club!

Q: Where do I live or want to travel?

Winner: Want to travel

A: There are so many places I want to travel to! I think the top few are New Zealand, Iceland, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Peru, and Greece. I’ve been to many places in Europe and have family there, and I’ve also done a lot of traveling in Canada and the US.

Q: Favourite quote or dedication?

Winner: Quote

A: My favourite quote is, embarrassingly, from a book I haven’t read (yet!). It’s from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernières, and it’s translated into English from the original language (French):

“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.”

Q: Favourite short story or poem?

Winner: Short story

A: This is a tough one. I tend not to like short stories. They usually frustrate me. I think this would have to be a tie between “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, and “The Pedestrian,” by Ray Bradbury.

Q: What makes me laugh or cry?

Winner: Laugh

A: I really love funny animal videos and images, like this one of coatis, this one of Sail Cat, and this one of a puppy, because I love animals and cute things in general. My husband makes me laugh a lot, and so does being tickled (even though I hate it) and funny movies like Pitch Perfect. OH! And the We Rate Dogs twitter account. And the Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me NPR podcast.

Q: Favourite holiday or weekday?

Winner: Holiday

A: Definitely Christmas! I think it has a lot to do with often having family close by, and it being a holiday in Winter means that I can cozy up in pjs and thick socks with a fire going and a hot mocha in my hands. I also love the food that comes with Christmas – Terry’s chocolate oranges and turkey dinner in particular!

Q: Favourite singer or band?

Winner: Band

A: I’m not-so-secretly excited that you all chose band, because I have a lot more favourite bands than singers. Phew! I’ve got two that are pretty closely tied, but I think that the winner has to be Maroon 5. I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember, and my husband and I have listened to their music together since we started dating in 2006. We’ve seen them in concert twice. My second favourite band is Hedley. I will be seeing them for the third time in February!

Q: What do I love or hate?

Winner: Love wins! (Just had to get that plug in there.)

A: I really love a lot of things. If there’s one thing that’s been true for my whole life is that I’m very enthusiastic about a lot of things. For that reason and many others, this list is in no particular order. Being cozy, coffee (holiday flavoured lattes especially), fuzzy socks, blankets, pillows, books, funko pops, the sun, running, rugby, art, writing, journaling, trees, the ocean, dogs, animals in general, Harry Potter, the forest, my family, my friends, and my husband. Again, this list is by no means exhaustive, because I love a lot of things.

Q: What’s on my bucket list or to-do list?

Winner: Bucket list

A: Number one on my bucket list (to my husband and parents’ chagrin) is skydiving. It fell through for me a couple of years ago when everything had been all planned and I haven’t managed to get it going again since. Another thing on my bucket list is to write a novel. For now, the last thing that’s on my list that I’ll share is to run a half marathon in under 2 hours.

Image Post Questions!

Q: How many books and funko pops do you have? (Submitted by @My Book Bubble, thank you!)

A: This took me a long time to figure out. I have about 265 funko pops. I say about because I’m sure there’s human error in there somewhere. Same goes for the books. They are hard to count!! In Vancouver, I have about 545 books. I live in Vancouver now, but I grew up in New Brunswick with my mom, so many of my books are still there in my childhood bedroom. I’ll have to count them the next time I’m there. Needless to say… it’s a lot.

Q: Which book are you most looking forward to in 2018? (Submitted by Marcus Henson, @mhensonofficial, thank you!)

A: Definitely Obsidio, by Amie Kaufman! I really loved both Illuminae and Gemina! For those who don’t know, the series is called The Illuminae Files!

Finally, here’s my favourite shelfie so you know what I look like!

(shelfie = selfie + shelf)

That’s a wrap on my first Q & A!

Thanks for reading and getting to know a bit more about me! Also, thanks also to those who answered my stories polls and sent in original questions! Finally, if there’s anything else you’d like to know about me that I could answer in a future Q & A blog post, please let me know in a comment below or by sending me a DM on Instagram!

In love and books,

Paperback Patronus

November 24, 2017November 24, 2017

Book Review: Broken Moon by Sarah Beth Moore

I was recently offered a Kindle ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Broken Moon by Sarah Beth Moore in exchange for an honest review. This is the fourth ARC I’ve received since I started reviewing books. I have to say it was the one I’ve enjoyed the most so far! To be clear, my opinions are all my own.

Here’s the synopsis of the book, pulled from Amazon:

What if you discovered human souls are real, but about to become extinct … and you were the only one who could stop it?

Living a thousand feet above the ground in metal slums piled upon the detritus of decades, Naiya Barrigan makes a decent living culling through the wreckage of 21st century humanity and selling what she finds to the highest bidder.

But that doesn’t mean life is perfect: demonic guards stalk the streets, mothers owe their firstborn children to the authoritarian Party, and Naiya’s pregnant sister has just turned up bone-thin, childless and dead.

This disturbing incident kicks off other revelations, such as Naiya’s membership in the ancient family line that oversees the link between the mortal world and Terminus, where souls await rebirth between lives. Unfortunately, the Party has discovered this too, and soon Naiya is on the run.

For help she has only a numbers-obsessed, slightly autistic brainiac, a hulking spy from the outside and an adopted brother toward whom she feels anything but sisterly. In a city fast becoming a death trap, she must figure out how to use the newfound magic she doesn’t even want and escape the place she’s always called home.

Elements of horror, urban fantasy and theology intertwine in this fast-paced adventure, culminating in a revelation that will haunt Naiya for the rest of her life … though her journey is far from over.

The cover is gorgeous!

And here’s my review!

Broken Moon had me hooked from the start! Set in a mysteriously dystopian world, where the planet is under the control of a dark and dangerously manufactured species as well as a harsh, unfair government, the novel follows the story of an unlikely set of siblings as they discover a secret that has been kept for far too long and try to flip their broken world back right side up. It satisfies on all levels – setting, character development, fantasy, dystopia, action, relationships, suspense, and heart-wrenching moments! It is wonderfully descriptive, but not so wordy that the pacing falls flat. The plot has several twists and turns which keep you gripped until the end and beyond. Reminiscent of Brave New World and moody and thematic like Stranger Things, it kept me on edge all the way through and I already can’t wait for more of the story!

If you’re an author looking for a review for your new work, I would love to write one for you! Seeing a review request in my inbox is so exciting!

I’ve got another ARC in my inbox right now! Stay tuned for a review of that in the near future!

In the meantime, go and get yourself a copy of Broken Moon, you won’t regret it!

– Paperback Patronus

November 23, 2017

Welcome, Share my Love of Books!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to anyone who’s found me here from Bookstagram or Goodreads. Welcome especially to those who are new to the world of Paperback Patronus! I hope you’re ready to talk about books!

Bookstagram, What’s Bookstagram?!

For those of you who I’ve already lost, here’s the lowdown:

Bookstagram is what us book lovers affectionately call Book-Instagram. Thousands and thousands of wonderful bookworms have accounts on Instagram that are solely dedicated to books, reading, reviews, collections, and fandoms.

I’ve had a Bookstagram account for almost two years now, and I’ve really enjoyed sharing my TBR (that’s To Be Read) piles, my reading goals, my funko pop (collectible pop culture figurines) collection, my book hauls, and especially my book reviews (I also post star reviews on Goodreads).

Reading has always been one of my favourite activities. Literally always. My parents started reading to me before I was born, and I’m hard pressed to think of any day in my entire life that I haven’t read at least a page of something before hitting the sack. Finally, I’ve discovered in recent years that writing about what I read is also a passion of mine. I’ve always enjoyed writing, but combining reading and writing is so exciting for me!

I’ll be posting a review on this blog any time I finish a book, and I’ll also be sharing my monthly reading goals and TBR lists, my book hauls, photos of my ever-growing funko pop collection and book shelves, and wrap-ups each month with star ratings and quick reviews of what I’ve read.