The Smell of Books: A Short Confession | Bookish Musings

Ah, the smell of books. Please don't look at me with judgmental eyes and pretend you don't know what I'm talking about.

The smell of old book B.O. while you're walking down library aisles. That magical whiff when you crack open the spine of a newly published hardcover. It's such a special sense that Robin Sloan named a chapter in Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, "The Smell of Books".

I acquired this special sense of reading when I had the sudden realization that the book I was holding was more than an inanimate object with words and pages. Rather, the book was alive! And all things that live and breathe also smell.

So next time you pick up a book, lean in for a good whiff. You'd be surprised that each book has its unique smell. Hey, you may even be able to associate a particular smell (sweet, musky, sour, bitter) to a particular genre or trope. For example, all the vampire books I own have a sour, dusty smell. My set of The Darkest Minds and Divergent series, which are both YA dystopias, smell jarringly sweet!
 
I'm not generalizing and saying all vampire books smell sour and all YA books smell sweet. This is a confession of my own reading fetish (a fetish I know many readers share). My other point is to encourage readers to expand their reading senses beyond seeing, feeling, and hearing. Lean in and take a whiff.

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix | ARC Review

Discovered: BookRiot Youtube

Status: Read

Received: First Reads Giveaway from Quirk Books and Goodreads

Mode: Paperback

Goodreads Rating: ****

Ever wish you could sleep over at an Ikea?

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix takes that simple curiosity of retail comfort and terrifies it into all things that go bump in the night. 

Synopsis:

Horrorstör is about an Ikea knock-off chain called Orsk where eerie things start to happen at one of its retail locations in Columbus, Ohio. Employees clock-in to find broken furniture, defecated sofas, and reversing escalators. Naturally, upright manager Basil Washington needs to do something about it and that something involves gathering a team of store partners to investigate during a graveyard shift. That team involves reluctant Amy, the ever-kind Ruth Anne, and quirky couple Matt and Trinity. And they're in for a surprise as a simple floor sweep takes them deep into the horrifying history and secret of the land Orsk is built upon.   

In Depth:

Do you know the true horror of Horrorstör? It's the idea that the paranormal is not limited to haunted houses, schools, and hospitals. It's found in everyday retail stores and the furniture we bring into our homes. Orsk is a satire on the labor and culture of the retail industry. The exaggerated company motto plastered all over the store does nothing to ebb the monotony of mindless work, nor does it hide the sterile corporate mindset we see at the end of the book. Also, Horrorstör shows that the work and furniture we take for granted could be perverted into something horrifying and unforgiving. 

My Favorite Parts:

What's great about this book is that it reads like a movie. At first, I started reading Horrorstör as a secondary book, to take breaks from the primary book I was reading at the time. After three chapters, it took the place of my primary book. I was hooked! The narrative and story flowed and I was easily visualizing every chapter as if I was watching a horror film inside my mind. 

Lastly, if you've done some research you'll know that the book was created to look like an Ikea catalog. One my favorite parts of Horrorstör is the illustration and description of a piece of furniture in the beginning of every chapter. And that piece of furniture takes precedent in that specific chapter. It was scary and awesome flipping through the pages and seeing the growing perversion of each furniture. 

All I'm asking of Grady Hendrix and Quirk Books is a sequel to Horrorstör! I love the Amy-Basil duo and would love to see them kicking more ghost-butts!

I'm A Happy Book-shopper | Bookish Musings

I've always considered book-shopping a solitary activity. I spend a lot of time at bookstores, perusing book covers, spines, and synopsis. The art of book-shopping is many things to me, myself and I: therapeutic, fun, adventurous even stressful. So I didn't realize how one friendly comment from a fellow book-shopper would change my book-shopping experience.

Again, I was at a bookstore, aiming for a therapeutic experience after a stressful week at work. Perusing the YA, fantasy, and fiction shelves, I was randomly picking and dropping books, not really considering to buy this book or that book. For a moment, I had The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern in my hand when out of nowhere a woman says to me "That's a great book." 

I was caught off guard that someone had actually spoken to me at a bookstore! Weird, huh? One would think there would be a rumble of verbal activity among book lovers, but I noticed that bookstores are often silent with shoppers who seem to have raised a wall between themselves and everything not books.  

The nice woman and I had a conversation about The Night Circus for about a minute. And I realized, sometimes it's not the reviews on Goodreads and Amazon that convince me to buy a book; rather it's the friendly interactions with shoppers that spark my interest and wallet.

To Binge or Not To Binge? | Bookish Musings

I'm ashamed to say that it's been almost a month since my last post. But hey, I had a MEGA book haul with three trilogy sets. So far I finished the Blood of Eden Trilogy, The Grisha Trilogy, and 2/3 of The Inheritance Trilogy. I'm so glad I found these trilogies because they're amazing stories. So amazing that I've been spacing out at work thinking of vampire apocalypses, villainous love interests, and tempestuous gods. But after three weeks of intense reading, I've come to question the concept of binge reading, especially for the sake of reading X amount of books during a certain period of time.

The onslaught of reading five books in one week has prevented me from actually soaking up each story. Although, I'm gobbling books like Patrick up there, I'm not really savoring them. Sure, I finally know the fate of the world after a vampire apocalypse or Darkling takeover, but I'm not halting my breaks to ask questions of morality and other symbolic issues related to the hefty plot. Binge reading has caused my reading experience to become more plot driven and usually that's not all there is to a novel. Under the artistic frothing of each latte is the rich and complex flavor of coffee. Coffee gurus, anyone? 

I think there's been too much hype for finishing X amount of books during a certain period of time, usually a month. I've been watching a lot of "Monthly Wrap-Up" videos on Youtube and the sheer number of books finished by some Book-tubers is clearly admirable. I mean, I even got motivated, put on my speed-reading pants, and finished ten books last month. Unfortunately, I realized I've been reading for the sake of finishing books on my TBR shelf, rather than actually reading for pleasure.

So back to the initial question, To Binge or Not To Binge?  In short, that's up to you. Who am I to tell you how many books you should or shouldn't read in a month? As a reader, one thing I hate above all is book snobbery and bookators (book-dictators), who are disillusioned to think that they have the right to dictate reading practices. Just throwin' that out there. But once you set yourself to these reading goals/marathons, remember it's alright to halt the breaks. It's not a race y'all, it's reading.

The Dreamblood Series by N.K. Jemisin | Review

I just want to take a moment and appreciate the covers of both books.

 

[sigh...]

Discovered: BookRiot.com

Status: Read

Purchased: BookRiot Quarterly Box; Barnes & Noble Online

Mode: Paperback

Goodreads Rating: *****

Aren't they beautifully epic?! A few posts back, I received The Killing Moon from the Book Riot Quarterly box. It was one of three books and I was instantly enamored with the cover. It's just so effin' pretty! Then I read the synopsis and was instantly hooked. 

I've never been an adventurous fantasy reader. My foray into "things beyond reality" is limited to the paranormal. My alternate reality "comfort zone" consists of vampires and a sprinkling of werewolves. So I was pretty surprised when my "need-to-read-like-now" radar perked after getting my hands on The Killing Moon. Maybe it was the excitement of receiving my first Book Riot Quarterly? Probably. I also couldn't resist the pull of the unique and seductive world of the Dreamblood.

In The Killing Moon, we have Ehiru and Nijiri, Gatherers of the Hetawa, which is the religious cult of Gujaareh. And there is Sunandi, a fierce diplomat from the neighboring and rival city-state of Kisua. In the face of a megalomaniac Prince, a Reaper, political and religious conspiracy, and world war, these three characters journey to achieve a far-reaching diplomatic endeavor to preserve the fate of humanity

The Shadowed Sun is set ten years after the conclusion of The Killing Moon. It mainly follows Wanahomen, the exiled son of the previous megalomaniac Prince, and Hanani, a Healer of the Hetawa. It also follows Tiannet, a young woman whose struggles show that power and greed are not limited to ruling political and religious bodies. Recurring characters such as Nijiri and Sunandi are also present as everyone comes together to reclaim Gujaareh from Kisuati rule. In addition to war, our characters must battle an epidemic that has crossed political lines into the dreamworld. To put it simply, Jemisin takes the world she's built in The Killing Moon and flips it upside down in The Shadowed Sun and it's pretty damn epic! 

While The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun are nostalgic of ancient Egyptian culture, Jemisin manages to weave a fantastical and independent world with its own culture, politics, and mysticism. The startlingly familiarity of certain aspects of the setting is thought provoking. For instance, both books present a world that is fascinatingly contradictory. In The Killing Moon, love and sexuality are presented unbound by our own traditional definitions of the norm, yet Gujaareh is governed by a monarchy and single religion. In The Shadowed Sun, the Banbarra tribe is presented as barbarian and nomadic, yet the customs are role reversing. Men wear veils, while women rule and conduct family businesses. Doesn't this just sound so cool?

Both books have opened the doors of adult fantasy for me. Whilst reading, I'm usually the voyeur peering into the world and lives of the book. Rarely do I have a book where I feel like I'm walking side by side the characters. The Dreamblood series seem to have bridged that gap between reader and book.

Young Adult, Fantasy and Everything In Between | Book Haul

Do you ever have that constant thought of meaning to buy some particular item/s? And that desire to buy those items constantly bothers you night and day? So you just go to the store and run your hands all over said items wishing you had the capacity to purchase them? Well, that happens to me A LOT (you know you do this too). And I have a love/hate relationship with my URRRRge to buy everything on my TBR pile. I love the fact that there are just so many damn good books to read out there. But I also hate the fact that I don't have them yet! 

So I went a little mega on my book haul this month and just bought most of the books I've been wanting to read. Yes, it'll take a while to read them but at least I have them in my hands, right? And I am ecstatic! 

I've already completed reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms before publishing this post! Don't judge me; there was a gap between the arrival of my first batch and second batch. 

Without further ado, here's my mega book haul!

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

After reading Eleanor & Park I just had to get Fangirl. It's just not enough reading just one of Rainbow Rowell's books. I see Fangirl on the shelves of every Barnes & Noble I happen to peruse and the YA BookTube community is raving about it. So Fangirl, COME. TO. ME.

How To Tell Toldeo From the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer

This is a lovely book I heard of on one of the episodes of The Book Riot Podcast, in which Rebecca Schinsky and Amanda Nelson rave about this new release. Since I trust Book Riot's recommendations I knew I would love this book as well. Also, I don't read a lot of books with an astrology premise. The last one I read was The Movement of Stars by Amy Brill and I loved it. It's about time I get lost in the stars again.

The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

Speaking of getting lost in stars, let's get lost with hunky gods, goddesses, and godlings. After being sucked into the Dreamblood series, I just had to get my hands on N.K. Jemisin's other works. This trilogy was published before the Dreamblood series and it's just as good. I already finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and the feels, THE FEELS! A review is well under way people!

The Blood Eden Series by Julie Kagawa

A paranormal dystopian! A vampire romance! And *drumroll* an Asian/American heroine in a YA series. Now, you don't see that often. Naturally, I had to get my hands on this series. Yes, there are many books out there with similar premises. Heck these days, the YA genre is dominated by dystopias and vampires. But a vampire + dystopia? I peruse a lot of paranormal books and I have yet to come across another series that combine both premises. If there are others, feel free to recommend. And although I've been really into fantasy lately, I've always been a lover of paranormal fiction. Since high school, I found those elements more sexy and trilling. So I just know I'll get a unique reading experience with The Blood Eden series while still dipping into one of my favorite genres. Also, hurrah to Julie Kagawa and Harlequin Teen for bringing diversity into YA literature. 

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Have you seen this trilogy everywhere? Good, so have I. I've heard of this trilogy on Book Riot, Twitter, and BookTube; and I've seen it on the YA front shelves of every bookstore. I admit, I wasn't able to jump on the boat/moment of other big name trilogies, so I didn't want to miss out on this one. But that's now the only reason why I've bought these. I'm actually a lot more interested in this trilogy than any other books that have been turned into movies. I admit (again), I'm not as excited to read this as I am of my other books, but I have a pretty good feeling that I'll end up loving them all the same. Woohoo books!  

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson | Review

Discovered: Goodreads and BookRiot.com
Status: Unfinished
Purchased: Barnes & Noble
Mode: Hardcover
Goodreads Review: *

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson was recently published on July 8, 2014 by Henry Holt and Co. This is the same publisher that published the successful Shadow and Bone Trilogy. The Kiss of Deception is the first book of The Remnant Chronicles, another fantasy series that perked my fantasy-loving senses. I was really eager for this book and I really wanted to like it, but unfortunately I couldn't. The act of forcing myself to read for the sake of getting my money's worth was making me miserable. So after 250 pages I set the book aside and returned it to Barnes & Noble.

First, the plot was quite boring even after 250 pages. The most exciting part happens in the beginning when Lia runs away from her father's kingdom due to an unwanted arranged marriage. But it's not much of a surprise considering readers already know that from the synopsis. After, there are 200+ pages of Lia's new life in Trevia with her BFF Paulina. I was waiting for something, ANYTHING, to happen. Perhaps, the exciting parts are supposed to be the love triangel between Lia, Rafe, and Kaden. Yet I found their interactions trivial. It was an all too familiar love triangle scenario that could be taken out and placed into any other genre. Also, I found the world bland. There was nothing unique or captivating about Morrighan or Trevia, which reminded me of Cinque Terre or any other Italian coastal city.

Second, the writing was redundant. I agree, the writing and descriptions were nice, almost flourishing. But it was also redundant considering the lack of momentum in the plot. Yes, Lia and Paulina have an amazing friendship and Trevia is so beautiful, but I already knew that 100 pages ago.

Third, I did not respect the characters enough to take them seriously. Personally, I find something wrong with the concept of a privileged girl choosing to live the tough life of labor just to prove a point to herself and her family, compared to a girl born into such circumstances. If you think about it, Lia had it pretty good. She's a princess who had access to shelter, food, and an education. Both her parents are living and she's surrounded by loving brothers.

I won't nitpick the selfishness of the whole running away part because that would defeat the original premise of the story. I understand and even sympathize those teenage feelings of fierce independence and rebellion. But after 250 pages, I did not see any character development from Lia. For one thing, her sense of judgement diminishes as she is unable to sense an assassin right under her nose. Isn't she a skilled rider who was able to lose her pursuers? Conveniently, all except for Rafe, Kaden, and Walther. Instead, she doubts Gwyneth, who has the foresight to sense danger. This is one of the many contradictions in Kiss of Deceptions. Right before this sudden doubt, Lia had felt a close bond among the ladies after revealing Pauline's predicament.

In addition to Lia, I found the other primary characters ( Pauline, Rafe, and Kaden) to be wishy washy teens full of contradictions. True, I did not finish the book and don't know whatever deception/s came to closure. Unfortunately, I was no longer invested in the story and characters to find out.