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Top 5 Tuesday: Debut Novels

April 20, 2021April 21, 2021by wren @ wingsandfables6 Comments

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly series created by Bionic Book Worm and is now hosted by Meeghan Reads. This week’s topic is Top 5 Debut Novels.

This topic has really blown my mind in a few ways as there are so many books I thought I could include on my list and it turned out that the author’s debut novel was not the one I thought it was! Google really saved me this week.

1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder was the first book that popped into my head when reading this week’s topic. I think it’s so cool that it started out as a Nanowrimo project—talk about a success! This book absolutely captured my heart and it’s still one of my favorite series to date. I haven’t had a chance to read Meyer’s other novels yet apart from this series, but I have purchased them and will eventually get to them on my lengthy to-read list.

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Discussions, Let's Talk Bookish

Let’s Talk Bookish: What Makes You Pick Up a Book

April 16, 2021April 21, 2021by wren @ wingsandfables4 Comments

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion. This week’s topic was suggested by Rafaela @ The Portuguese Bibliophile and is What Makes You Pick Up a Book.

What makes you pick up certain books? Is a pretty cover enough?

Word-of-mouth is the most powerful influence for me as a reader. If I see a lot of hype, positive reviews, or a friend recommends it, I’m almost guaranteed to pick the book up. As far as browsing on my own goes, covers are the very first thing I notice about a book, before the title and the author’s name even. And I am fully guilty of purchasing books based on their pretty covers and nothing else. Sometimes this turns out great and I fall in love with the book. And sometimes I wish I had actually read the summary or a Goodreads review or two so I’d realize the subject matter wasn’t something I was actually interested in. But since I am a frequent shopper of discount bookstores, I don’t usually count it as such a loss since I didn’t spend much money on the book to start with.

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Top 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday: Books You Would Re-Rate

April 13, 2021April 21, 2021by wren @ wingsandfables5 Comments

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly series created by Bionic Book Worm and is now hosted by Meeghan Reads. This week’s topic is Top 5 Books You Would Re-Rate.

I am a chronic re-rater. If you follow me on Goodreads, you might have seen me rate a book upon finishing it only to change the rating when I post my actual review. The more time I’m able to really think about a book and my feelings about it before diving into the next one, the more likely I am to change the rating by a star, either positively or negatively. Here’s my top 5 books that I would rate differently now if I were to re-read them:

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I make it no secret that ACOTAR is one of my favorite series so it might be surprising that this book is on my list. However, the first time I read it, I truly didn’t get the hype. I was new to the fantasy genre (I favored dystopian at the time) so I was left with a lot of questions about things that didn’t make sense to me. Now that I’ve expanded my fantasy reads, I understand that logic is one of the worst things to use when reading them. Fantasy is meant to be enjoyed with the way the writer chose to create the world. It’s not meant to be compared to what makes sense in ours. If I read this book again, I’m sure my 3 star rating which felt generous at the time would be higher by at least a star.

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Discussions, Let's Talk Bookish

Let’s Talk Bookish: Book Boyfriend Qualifications

April 9, 2021April 10, 2026by wren @ wingsandfables9 Comments

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly series hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion. This week’s topic is Qualifications for a Book Boyfriend/Girlfriend.

I always see LTB posts on my dash every week and always enjoy reading everyone’s thoughts on the weekly topics but I’ve yet to be organized enough to participate. This week I’ve finally managed to be able to write my thoughts down on a topic so I’m really excited to be able to join. April’s topics look amazing and I can’t wait to read everyone’s posts!

Do you have any book boyfriends/girlfriends?

Yes! Isn’t one of the best parts of reading books falling in love with a character? It always amazes me when I take a step back to look at a book objectively just how much work some authors put into creating their characters. You can tell how much thought and backstory they’ve poured into them even if it doesn’t always make it onto the page. They often spawn fanfiction even because readers love the characters so much and want to continue their stories in some way or place them in an alternate setting and explore their reactions to it. Some of my favorite book boyfriends are:

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Top 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday: Middle Grade Books

March 23, 2021April 10, 2026by wren @ wingsandfables7 Comments

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly series created by Bionic Book Worm and is now hosted by Meeghan Reads. This week’s topic: Top 5 Middle Grade Books.

One of my favorite things about middle grade books is that they often hit relatable issues in a simple, accessible way, especially in the case of contemporary books. I’m usually floored by the amount of development within the plot and the characters in such a short amount of time due to their typical shorter page length. I definitely sit in the camp that middle grade can be enjoyed by all ages and have reread some of my favorites as an adult. Without further ado, let’s jump in to my top 5 middle grade recommendations.

1. Crash by Jerry Spinelli

Crash is a favorite from my childhood and has remained a favorite into my adult life–I even reread it a couple of years ago and possibly enjoyed it even more as an adult than as a child. It hits so many important issues in its pages from peer expectations to bullying to the effects of watching people you love grow old and feeble. The main character goes through so much character development as he moves from popular jock preoccupied by what others think of him to learning what’s actually important in life and making new decisions as he matures. Spinelli’s books often have some major life lessons hidden beneath their various façades which is one of my favorite things about his books.

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Top 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday: Books That Got Me Into Reading

March 16, 2021April 21, 2021by wren @ wingsandfables7 Comments

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly series created by Bionic Book Worm and is now hosted by Meeghan Reads. This week’s topic: Top 5 Books That Got You Into Reading.

Since I fell in love with reading as soon as I learned how to read, I’m afraid my list would just be filled with children’s books such as Madeleine, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, etc.–probably not very exciting or engaging to read in my case. So instead I’m going to put a little bit of a spin on this week’s topic and choose the top 5 books that helped get me out of a reading slump at different times in my life.

1. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I went through several reading slumps as a teen, mostly because of time constraints due to harsh coursework in school. I’ve always been the type to fall into routine pretty easily (probably thanks to my Virgo moon) so once I’d subconsciously decided I wasn’t allowed to read for pleasure and instead should only read my coursework, it was difficult for me to let go a little. Discovering this series filled with Greek mythology and demigods through my sibling helped revive my love for reading circa 2008.

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Top 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday: Books I Wish I Had Read When I Was Younger

March 9, 2021April 10, 2026by wren @ wingsandfables1 Comment

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly series created by Bionic Book Worm and is now hosted by Meeghan Reads. This week’s topic: Top 5 Books You Wish You Had Read When You Were Younger.

All of my books are ones I read a few years after their release (a few decades in the case of another) and are ones I wished I’d pushed myself to read earlier so I could’ve enjoyed them at the height of their fame. It’s still fun to read books that were once popular but have since fallen, but nothing compares to being able to read a book that everyone is talking about and loving it too. Here are a few of mine:

1. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

I didn’t read this book until 3 years after its release. Scarlet, its sequel, had already been published in fact. At the time, I had recently gotten my first e-reader ever and the publisher had released the first five chapters of this book for free to entice readers to purchase the full book. Well, it definitely worked on me and I flew through its pages. I was fascinated by its blend of dystopian and sci-fi. I was shocked that retellings could actually do the original story justice and make me love them too. I’m glad I was able to be there for the hype of Cress‘s release but I still wish I’d picked this book up sooner.

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