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Posted:
Jan 1, 2013
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A Year In Review: Happy 2013!

2012 has been a pretty good year in terms of reading, for me. I set a goal of reading 100 books for 2012 because last year I read 93 and thought I could probably do 100 this year, but unfortuately, I didn’t make it: I read an even 70 books this year. Not bad, but not quite the goal. I did start nursing school this year though so I had less time to read. I think for 2013 I am going to set a much more modest goal of 60 books.

The Best Book

It’s so hard to pick just one book that I consider the best I read this year, but I think I would choose Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir, a historical novel. I couldn’t put it down at all, and this was the book that got me interested in historical royalty fiction. Sort of my “gateway” book into that genre. 

The Worst Book

The book I felt was the worst I read this year is Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins, a Young Adult novel. I thought it was wildly inappropriate for a teenager book; characters whose motivations and behaviours I questioned; and was poorly written. Was not pleased reading it.

Novel Insights Book Club

This was me and my friends’ first year doing an online book club thingie. It’s a very small “club” but we enjoy it very much! We read one book a month, so 12 books total, although I did not actually manage to read all 12. We/I read The Dovekeepers (Alice Hoffman), Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculier Children (Ransom Riggs), A Reliable Wife (Robert Goolrick), The Boy In The Suitcase (Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis), Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro), Four Sisters All Queens (Sherry Jones), Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn), and The Casual Vacancy (J.K. Rowling).  I, for one reason or another, was not able to find the time to read 3 of the books — The Zookeeper’s Wife (Diane Ackerman), The Shoemaker’s Wife (Adriana Trigiani) (actually, I am currently reading it but won’t finish it in time!) and Oil! (Upton Sinclair).

Classics Challenge

I joined Jessica’s (Thoughts At One In The Morning) Classics Challenge this year and did level 2 of the challenge, which was to read 4-6 classics books. A classic is defined as a book published pre-1980. I did actually manage to complete this challenge so hooray! My six books were The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, 1984, The Great Gatsby, Anna Karenina, The Invisible Man, and Casino Royale.

Hopefully I will be able to read lots of books in 2013! It will be a little tough to find the time since I am going to be in school for the full year (only off in August), so I am holding off on joining challenges and things like that as well. Happy new year!

Posted:
Jun 15, 2012
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I finally have a working RSS feed!

Hello! I have been a bit neglectful in the follower-area of the site. Ever since Google removed Google Friend Connect, and I lost nearly 300 followers, I have been quite unmotivated in this aspect of my blog. However, I am trying to rebuild my social network. I’ve had the Facebook page and Twitter for a while (which you are more than welcome to join!) but now I finally have my RSS feed working too!

You can access the RSS feed with the icon in the upper right hand corner to add my blog to your favourite reader (such as Google Reader). Or you can also subscribe via e-mail using the ‘Read on Feedburner’ button on the right hand side.

Your support is very much appreciated! Additionally, do let me know if I haven’t resubscribed in some way to your own RSS, Twitter or Facebook page. I know many others also lost their followers when Google Friend Connect sunk, and I’d love to return the favor.

Posted:
Jun 7, 2012
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Rival to the Queen

Author: Carolly Erickson
First Published: September 2010
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
320 pages (hardcover)

Continuing my recent obsession with historical royalty fiction, I just finished reading Rival to the Queen, which is Erickson’s story about Lettie Knollys, Queen Elizabeth I’s cousin. As I mentioned in a previous review, I really am not very knowledgeable about British or European history of this time period (most of my historical knowledge lies with Ancient Rome) so I didn’t really know who Lettie was or what her rivalry with the Queen was. I read the story not really knowing what was fact or fiction, but tried to just enjoy the ride.

This story details the life of Lettie Knollys, from her time as a girl to when she becomes 96 years old. Lettie falls in love with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, but knows her feelings cannot be returned, for Queen Elizabeth I, Lettie’s cousin, is quite fond of Robert Dudley and many whisper that he may become King Robert one day. Robert himself is an ambitious man, said to have killed his own wife in order to be with Elizabeth. When Robert’s patience with Elizabeth runs out, he marries Lettie in secret, which infuriates the Queen.

I thought the book started off wonderfully. I was drawn into the story immediately and I like Lettie as the first person narrator, she’s easy to like and isn’t annoying, which is pretty important to me whenever I read first person novels. I thought the characters were well done in that they stayed consistent and were memorable. I have no idea if they are true to their historical counterparts, but the way they were written as characters in a novel were great (though I really ought to read another Queen Elizabeth I novel by someone other than Erickson, since she always portrays this Queen as a bit of a psycho, and I’d like to read another interpretation of her to see if it’s a common thing or what. Not that I mind Queen Elizabeth being a psycho, she’s quite a character haha). I also enjoyed the story as a whole, though not as much as I would have liked.

The actual plot is fine, in my opinion, filled with drama and scandals and gossip. However, the pacing was rather undesirable. It moved at a strange, choppy speed: sometimes fast and sometimes very slow. The way the chapters were divided were sometimes strange as well. For example, there was one chapter where Lettie and her brother see a drowning woman. Chapter ends, and the next one that begins was literally one page long and more or less said they saved her and discovered she was Marianna. I don’t understand why those few paragraphs couldn’t have been tacked onto the previous chapter; why did they need to have their own chapter? It was hardly a cliffhanger.

Another part of the novel that had a pretty bad transition from chapter to chapter was when Lettie married Dudley. The story was reaching an intense moment where Dudley and the Queen were arguing about why she won’t marry him and all of a sudden, the chapter ends and the next one begins with Lettie saying she married Dudley. What?! I really felt like I was gypped of a scene, like something was missing there. There should have been some sort of Dudley proposal scene, or something where Dudley talks with Lettie after his fight with the Queen. It made it look like Dudley said, “Well, fine! If you won’t marry me, I’ll marry Lettie!” and I know there is supposed to be more to it than that. I think that’s a key thing that was missing — the passionate love between Lettie and Dudley. It was just words on paper to me, I couldn’t feel it.

So, I feel this book has equal parts pros and cons. It definitely could be better, but I don’t think it’s as terrible as some other readers say.

My Rating:

Posted:
Dec 25, 2011
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3 Comments

End-Of-2011 Giveaway WINNER

Aaaannnddd the winner of the End-Of-2011 Giveaway is ….

#104! Which is …

Renee Sharelle!
You’ve won a Song of Ice and Fire boxset!

Congratulations! I’ve sent out an e-mail and hope you receive it soon! Thanks to everyone who participated!

Posted:
Dec 9, 2011
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Classics Reading Challenge 2012

Not everyone is into classics, but I actually quite like many of them. Some favourites of mine are Wuthering Heights and A Little Princess. Unfortunately, despite owning a decent collection of classic books, I have hardly put a dent in the pile. Which is why I have decided to partake in Jessica’s Classics Reading Challenge 2012, in hopes it will motivate me!

Here are the rules she’s listed:

1. This challenge starts January 1st 2012 and ends December 31st 2012.
2. All books read for this challenge can be counted toward all other reading challenges.
3. All books chosen for this challenge must be books you have NEVER read or NEVER finished that were written prior to 1980.
4. Choose a level or number of books you would like to read.
5. Create a sign up post for your blog including the Classics Reading Challenge picture above and the books you would like to read (you can change your mind at any time).

Jessica’s listed five levels to choose from. I’m going to go with level 2, which is to read 4-6 classic books this year. I’m going to try to go for the full six.

Here are the books I am planning to read :)

  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  • The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
  • The Portrait Of A Lady by Henry James
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Like I said, I already own all these books — hopefully now I will be more motivated to read them! I do want to say that my list of chosen books is subject to change though. These are the books I would like to read right now, but who knows how I feel later on in the year …
Posted:
Dec 3, 2011
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End-Of-2011 Giveaway

Hi all! So, I’m hosting a giveaway here on Sky Ink! It was originally meant to be a Christmas giveaway, but due to the fact that, in all likelihood, the giveaway won’t actually be delivered to the winner by Christmas time, thanks to the hectic holiday season postal services have around the world, I altered it to a End-Of-2011 Giveaway — a New Year’s Giveaway, if you will :) This giveaway is my way of saying Happy Holidays! (It is also to sort of make up for the fact that I have been too busy to post much during the fall semester of school, heh).

So what am I giving away? I am giving away books! They are some of my favourite books I read during the year, as well as some I have not read but really want to!

You can choose a book(s) from EITHER Group A or Group B (not one from each group):

Group A is box sets. If you choose from this group, you can have ONE box set of your choice from the selection below:

From left to right:

  • A Song of Ice and Fire (<3) – This fantasy box set contains books #1-4 (does not include the most recent one, A Dance with Dragons).
  • The Wake Trilogy – This YA box set contains the full series (3 books).
  • The Mistborn Trilogy – This fantasy box set contains the full series (3 books).
  • Sarah Dessen box set – This is not a series, Sarah Dessen is the name of the author and this set includes 3 of her YA novels (Just Listen, The Truth About Forever, This Lullaby).

Box sets was my original giveaway idea, but in the event that none of the above interest you (which is okay), you can opt for something from Group B below …

Group B are individual, random books that I chose. They are either books I read during 2011 that I really enjoyed and wish to share or books that I hope to read soon! If you choose Group B, you can pick TWO books from the selection below (two because the book price will add up to be roughly equal to the box sets, even though the box sets have more books):

Rules:
1. Anybody can enter, as long as The Book Depository ships to your country, and you are 13 or older. You do not need to be a follower of my blog in any way, shape, or form.
2. No duplicate entries.
3. You can win EITHER a box set OR 2 books from Group B, not something from each group.
4. Giveaway ends on  December 23, 2012 at midnight Pacific Time. I will e-mail the winner (it will be like a Christmas gift, haha) and the winner has 36 hours to respond or I will pick a new winner. It will take approximately 2-4 weeks to ship, depending where you live.

Bonus Entries — Everyone loves bonus entries!
+ 1 for being a GFC follower.
+1 for liking Sky Ink Reviews on Facebook.
+1 for following  Sky Ink Reviews on Twitter.
+1 for tweeting about this giveaway.
+1 for adding me as a friend on Goodreads.

With that being said, here’s the form to enter and good luck!

GIVEAWAY IS OVER! THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!